


Do not Rhyme with the Devil...

by mantinos



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: A lot of rhymes, Alternate Universe, Attempt at horror, Body Horror, But in the right way, But only for a chapter or two., Don't copy to another site, M/M, Magic, Mind Screwing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Horror, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2019-11-15 20:18:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 81,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18080237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mantinos/pseuds/mantinos
Summary: ...cause you can't win.What happens when someone from this world (Me) dies because of a bus and ends in Young Justice in the soulless body of a Cadmus experiment.Also what happens when someone (Still Me) decide to give Canon the Middle Finger and NOT become part of the Team. Hopefully.





	1. Chapter 1: Magic and Science? Not good news. For me.

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter, as well as several others, have been betaed by Pietersielie on SV.

“So, what’s the ‘ _ revolutionary project _ ’ you asked my expert opinion on?” asked a young-looking kid, dressed in a black dress jacket with matching pants and shoes walked behind a brown-haired man, wearing a scientist’s lab coat.

 

The boy’s pale, inhuman skin shone stark white under the neon lights of the laboratory matching the white shirt, his black nails scratching the back of a ginger cat with tiger stripes held in his arms.

 

The doctor wiped his forehead with a handkerchief at the words. Seemingly harmless, the tone was… decidedly not.

 

“A-ah, we created a… hybrid, of sorts, as an experiment. And it came out well! Bu-but there are… complications in the development of Project E-Z.”

 

“Sounds like a you problem. Doesn’t it, Teekl? Yes, it does,” Klarion crooned at his cat, a malicious smile on his face, the hair styled as horns making him look even more like a demon. The doctor gulped at that, his face turning the color of curdled milk.

 

“It’s not our fault!” The outburst was of short duration, abruptly ending when the black eyes of the Chaos Lord turned to him.“The… the original materials are… are too...  _ exotic _ for us to make proper use. We managed to combine them to create a working clone, but...”

 

His explanation ended with his arms waving about, not knowing what to say. But Klarion seemed interested, at least, and not homicidal anymore.

 

“What materials are so exotic that the scientists of this place cannot understand it with their almighty ‘science’?” he purred, clearly making fun of them and their perceived incompetence.

 

The doctor’s hands contracted into fists, the knuckles turning white, before stopping abruptly in front of a door.

 

It opened sideways, sliding without a sound and showing a small observational room. Behind the large transparent window, there was a white bed, the kind used in the hospitals for patients that needed to be moved between locations and were either dangerous, unstable or restrained: straps across the torso, on each leg and arm and at ankles and wrists.

 

Beyond that, two people were monitoring the condition of the body on the bed, looking at several monitors and charts.

 

Not that all of these precautions seemed necessary: the body on the bed belonged to a child no older than four or five years old. Furthermore, his purple eyes were open, but blank. It was clear that there wasn’t anyone upstairs.

 

“We don’t understand! He is stable, perfectly healthy and there are no anomalies. The two materials melded together without problems and, by all accounts, he should be already...”

 

“He’s empty.”

 

Klarion’s voice stopped the doctor cold.

 

“Empty?”

 

“Yep. You managed to mix the blood of a demon and a human pretty well, which is not so difficult seeing the way you humans mate with everything, but he came out empty.”

 

Ignoring the barb at the mating habits of humans, the scientist turned towards the experiment on the bed, almost as if he was trying to see in what sense he was empty.

 

“...I don’t understand. What is missing?” It was no louder than a whisper, but Klarion heard all the same. Teekl chuffed at the question, amused.

 

“He has no  _ soul _ . Which wouldn’t be a problem, but without it, his magic won’t work, stopping everything else. It’s that simple.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Really, what you created is basically a puppet. Or one of your ‘robot’ things. Without whatever makes them move. It’s almost impressive how hard you failed at it.”

 

Each and every word was like a hit to the doctor’s pride, making him flinch. In the end, the brown-haired man simply hung his head in shame.

 

“...I’ll give them the order to dispose of the project.”

 

Klarion snickered. “And I thought you asked me to help with it.”

 

This caused the man to frown, not understanding what the faux-boy meant. “But you said...”

 

“I said that it doesn’t have a soul  _ right now _ . Not that I cannot do something about that.” And, with a wave of his hand, the window melted away in a red crackle of energy, spooking the two assistants inside the room and causing the alarm to blare.

 

“Let’s see what happens if I do…  **this** !” And, claws in the place of hands, face turned into a diabolical visage, he plunged a red-shrouded arm into the chest of the boy.

 

Then, with an explosion of red energy, the whole place went dark, Klarion’s cackling laugh echoing together with the screams of a young boy.

 

*****************************************

 

The last thing I remembered was waiting for the people inside the pharmacy to get out, the concrete on the sidewalk wet from the recent rain. I was on the kerb, balancing on it, waiting for time to pass.

 

Then someone said something about a bus, I turned to move away from the kerb, but the umbrella was between my legs, causing me to lose my balance. The wet concrete made me slip and I fell backwards.

 

Right in the middle of the street, and in the path of the bus.

 

After that, a moment of burning pain lacerating my insides and… void.

 

Here I was. Waiting. For something. Resurrection, reincarnation, anything.

 

Wait, was that a han-

 

The pain I felt was something that I couldn’t describe with words alone. It was simply too… eldritch for me to put it into something that a human could understand. The only thing that I could understand was that, as strange as it may sound, it was outlined in red. And then, the void was no more.

 

Still, it was the worst pain that I have ever experienced and, if I am right, the worst I will ever experience.

  
....please,  _ please _ ... let me be right…

 

I’m not too proud to say that I cried. Loud and ugly.

 

It was both for the pain and for the relief from it.

 

I heard voices near me. I could only catch pieces of what they were saying, but one voice was clearly from an adult, while the other was grating, high and uncaring. It was vaguely familiar, too, but I couldn’t pinpoint when or where I heard him...

 

“What...do?!” “I… your blunder… soul… welcome.” “He’s… blood… over!” “Side… no problems… your...” “I… the Light...” “...care… I’m… goodbye.”

 

I passed out under the red light, the shadow of a pair of horns obscuring my vision for a moment.

 

***************************************

 

I woke up when I felt something probing my brain.

 

No, that wasn’t a metaphor. I could literally feel something probing my actual brain, not just my head or my skull. My grey matter was being probed. And I didn’t feel any kind of pain.

 

That was pretty unnatural, no?

 

It was hard to open my eyes. They were heavy, like lead was attached to the end of every single eyelash, dragging them down. Beyond that, I was simply still tired.

 

It was something like the exhaustion one gets after staying up for an entire day, did something physically challenging, followed after by an intense mental exercise.

 

It was a core deep exhaustion, spread all over my body, not a single part left untouched. Even my hair was tired and I didn’t even know that it was possible.

 

I could stay like this for a bit more, it’s not like someone needed me to get up right away, no? I’m sure that whoever was trying to wake me by poking my brain would understand. I mean, I’m sure they would do the same thing if they were in my place.

 

So, let me sleep…

 

Poke.

 

Poke, poke.

 

Poke, poke,  _ poke… _

 

**“STOP IT,**

**DAMMIT!!!”**

 

What came out of my mouth was an actual roar, inhuman enough to leave me surprised and taken aback.

 

“My voice… what the hell?

This is not my usual knell...”

 

I stopped. Eyes open, mouth closed and gulping. Staring ahead.

 

A glass pane with two letters inverted was in front of me. A ‘Z’ and an ‘E’ in black… whatever was used on these things. Pods.

 

I was upright, my back against something soft, but with harsh light above that made everything a bit unnatural.

 

Small grey-black creatures were moving around, clearly wobbling, not looking like anything on Earth, and yet I knew what they were. G-Gnomes. The telepaths used by Cadmus Labs to teach and ‘program’, so to speak, Superboy. Well, technically to program any kind of clones or creature they had created, see Speedy for reference.

 

In front of my pod, there was another one. Its background was lit by red, flesh-like walls. It was more like a cylinder than the oblong form of my own, without the various machinery that I could vaguely see from the corner of my eyes. And inside... 

 

In it was a teenager with red hair and with only one arm. Frozen solid, suspended in the middle of a clear blue, almost transparent, liquid.

 

“Ah, you are awake, I see!”

 

Startled, I turned my head towards the voice, seeing a tall man with brown hair tied into a ponytail, brown eyes and a white lab coat over a black sweater.

 

“Who are you? Please, tell me!

‘Cause I don’t believe what I see!”

 

And why I was still speaking in rhyme?!

 

Rhymes… D.C. universe… if this wasn’t a dream or some sort of hell...

 

“Mhhhhh… seems that the parts of donor E are stronger, at least in some respects,” he glanced down at the G-Gnomes on the ground. “And it seems you are somewhat resistant to the telepathic powers of the G-Gnomes. No matter, we will soon wear you down and then you won’t remember anything about this.”

 

He smirked. “Say bye bye to your memories. Soon, you will simply be Project Zeta E, one of the countermeasures against Superman.”

 

I looked at him, horror in my eyes, before they closed slowly, fighting to stay awake. Uselessly.

 

“He seems tired. Wait for him to go to sleep and proceed with the program. Just because we had to stash it here with the failures, doesn’t mean that he will remain here forever. I will not fail again...” he muttered as he walked away.

 

Meanwhile, I was taking deep breaths, both to up my oxygen intake and to slow my heart rate. Dr Desmond. The future Blockbuster.

 

If I was with the failed projects, then… why was Speedy in front of me? I mean, I knew that there was a Speedy/Red Arrow out there, even if I didn’t exactly remember what time difference was between the two, but I’m pretty sure that it’s substantial.

 

That said, Desmond was in Cadmus Labs, which were… somewhere in the U.S.A. Washington? I think?

 

And why was I rhyming whenever I talked? And if I was rhyming when I talked, why did I not rhyme in my thoughts? Not that I wanted that, just...

 

And, project Zeta E? What did it stand for? Think.

 

Desmond –  -  no way I was calling him doctor after what he did or wanted to do to me – said that I got it –  -  the rhyming thing – from donor E. The only one that rhymes consistently in the D.C. Universe is the demon Etrigan, the other side of Jason Blood.

 

That I knew of.

 

Also, me being a countermeasure against Superman? In what universe?

 

Superman is on the tall side of invulnerable, the worst I could do to him was… what, bleed on him? Not even that, probably. But I didn’t think that he was telling me that he wanted to use me as cannon fodder…

 

Etrigan, Etrigan… I mean, he was a magic user, no? And Superman is vulnerable to magic.

 

Vulnerable as in, he reacted like a normal human.

 

Then did it mean that I had magic too? But how could they be so sure?

 

And who is the other donor for my new body? Maybe it’s related to him/her?

 

If the E on the pod stood for Etrigan and they wanted magic… Zatara? I mean, it’s logical. There aren’t many magic users around and, of the ones that I remembered, only Zatara has a name with Zeta in it.

 

There’s Wotan, Klarion, Nabu, Kent… who else? Onomatopoeia, I think. Brother Voodoo? No, he’s Marvel.

 

I couldn’t think of anyone else.

 

If I was right, that meant that I needed to… what, speak backwards? But I tended to rhyme by instinct…

 

Did I need to rhyme backwards? But I doubted that speaking backwards was the only thing that they needed to do to use magic, seeing as Zatanna still needed to be educated… or at least I think that was the case?

 

Why didn’t I study her more in-depth when I was writing Djinn?

 

Or, even better, why couldn’t I  **be** Djinn? That would be way easier than all of this.

 

I was starting to have a headache, too. Like icepicks being driven in my brain. Repeatedly. And…

 

Waaaaaait a sec…

 

With great effort, I opened my eyes again to see the G-Gnomes around my pod, their horns glowing red with their powers.

 

I could feel the vein pulsing in my forehead.

 

“If you don’t stop when you’re ahead,

Then you deserve to DROP DEAD!”

 

Something flowed from me, some kind of blackness tinted with purple that enveloped the various G-Gnomes in a black smog that vanished after a few seconds. The G-Gnomes were on the ground, their horns now back to their normal color, not breathing, as far as I could see.

 

Dead.

 

The horror didn’t hit me, because I fainted right away, the energy used too much for my still exhausted body.

 

***************************************

 

I woke up again, still tired and bleary, but a bit better. I had no idea how much time had passed, but it couldn’t be that much. Especially seeing as the G-Gnomes were still there.

 

No, wait, these ones were alive. They weren’t trying to enter my brain, at least. As far as I could tell.

 

I couldn’t worry about that, right now. I needed to think of a way to…

 

My eyes returned to the redhead in the pod in front of me. Specifically, at his lack of an arm.

 

I bit the inside of my mouth and my lips, trying to decide what to do: I could try to escape and leave him here, hoping that I would be strong enough to evade detection or something like that… or I could try to free him. Which would be the right thing to do.

 

It would also open up a massive can of worms and would surely make the alarm ring. And yet, I couldn’t convince myself to leave him here.

 

All that talk of being cold and calculating and I was reduced to debating if doing the morally right thing or not when my sanity, life and freedom was on the line? I knew I was a hypocrite, but not on that level. Why was I even thinking on what to do?

 

I had already decided. That said, I couldn’t leave right away. I didn’t have a way. I had magic –  -  which was, basically, all my dreams coming true – but I couldn’t use it reliably, I didn’t know where to go and I didn’t know what to do later.

 

I needed to break the problem into smaller problems and… find a way to resolve it. Them. All of this unholy –  -  literally, because of Etrigan – mess.

 

First of all, I needed a way to move without being found. Which was kind of difficult with the engineered race of telepaths all around.

 

So, the true first thing I needed to have was a shield for my mind. Or some sort of cloak.

 

Think...

 

“As I say, as I speak, as I want, as I invoke,

My mind, my thoughts, in darkness cloak”

 

The feeling of tiredness vanished and I instantly felt better. The three G-Gnomes in front of me, though… well, they looked pretty spooked. Their horns lit red instantly and I could… not sense or feel, but basically it was some sort of perception about the fact that they were trying to use their telepathy on me.

 

Well, so sad. Alexa, play Despacito.

 

Now, how to avoid the fact that I needed to focus on the spell? With another spell. Mmhh…

 

“My spells, let it in place stay

Until I want it to go away”

 

And the cloaking spell… settled, in a manner of speaking, in the back of my mind. I seriously doubted that it’s that easy, but I’d take what I could get. I wasn’t in a position to be picky.

 

Now, I had my mind cloaked, I was assured that it wouldn’t come uncloaked until… I didn’t know, I ran out of energy or something, so, what did I have to do next?

 

Information. I needed more information.

 

But leaving the pod before I had to was not a good idea. Also, would the disappearance of my mind alert someone? Damn.

 

And I was starting to feel a bit woozy. I must’ve been more tired than I thought. But I couldn’t sleep now, I just got up. I needed to find informa-

 

**************************************

 

I woke up with a start, Desmond looking at me from the outside the pod. No, not looking, he was studying me.

 

“How did you manage to block the G-Gnomes?” His tone made it clear that it wasn’t a question, just a musing. One of the assistants – a female one, brunette, with glasses – pointed to something on a monitor at my side, just outside my field of view.

 

“Sir, it seems that there is abnormal activity in its brain. It’s disrupting our scan.”

 

“Then try with another scan. We don’t have any other genetic material to make another specimen, but if this one comes out unusable, we will at least gain enough data to make sure that the next one is working.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

I watched Desmond walk away in a daze, my head crashing and falling on itself several times, before doing the equivalent of a Hard Reset from a Bluescreen of Death.

 

Whatever my timeline was, it was now much shorter. I didn’t even consider the idea of letting the G-Gnomes into my head. If they discovered what I knew and reported it to the Light...

 

Closing my eyes, blocking everything outside myself, I thought furiously. How could I…

 

Of course.

 

Let’s see if this worked.

 

_ “Astral projection through this glass wall _

_ Let my soul be silent like a pall.” _


	2. Chapter 2: When being a Ghost works for You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never. That's the answer.

Not my brightest idea.

 

I felt my mind moving outwards, if that was the right word, and, soon, I had left my body behind.

 

That was easy.

 

I tried to move away from it and, instantly, fell to the ground, pain wracking my form, several chains connecting my form to my earthly body.

 

I stood corrected. Oh, so corrected.

 

After a few minutes of… soul heaving? I’m not sure how to explain that I tried to puke through my soul, I managed to recover my wits and stood up.

 

Well, tried to stand up. It was kind of hard to stand up when the up was decided entirely by your perception of the space completely unbound from anything like the law of gravity or similar for-

 

***********************************

 

I woke up. I was back in my body, inside the pod and I was feeling… kinda well, but also kinda tired.

 

And there was something in my brain again.

 

_ “As I say, as I speak, as I want, as I invoke, _

_ My mind, my thoughts, in darkness cloak” _

 

Gone. Looking outside, the G-Gnomes were looking at me, a strange expression on their faces… I think. They were a bit too alien for me to understand them

 

So. Think. Why did I return? Pass out?

 

Mmhhhhh... 

 

Well, the only thing that I could think of was that I had used up all my magic. So, either I was wrong – which was possible – or I didn’t have good management of my energy, causing me to use it so much faster.

 

Plus, I was keeping three spells active, not one: the cloaking, the lockingsustaining spell, and the astral projection.

 

In other circumstances I would slowly experiment. Right now, I really couldn’t take the time I needed, so I’d have to risk it and try to see if I could feel how much energy I was using and if I could restrain it or optimize it or something.

 

So, again. From the top.

 

“My spells, let it in place stay

Until I want it to go away”

 

And the cloaking spell settled in the back of my mind once again. Let’s see if I could….

 

mmmhMMMRHHH…..

 

I... think… I could feel something? If I wasn’t imagining things. Which I could very well be. But I didn’t have time to imagine things, I needed it to be real.

 

So let’s assume that it’s real and that I could restrict the flow of energy.

 

Let’s try it now.

 

I visualized the flow of energy, something like a stream of lightning as used in films and special effects, and then reduced it to the minimum setting possible. Slowly, slooooowly…

 

Stop. No, this would stop the spell, I could feel it. Maybe if I tried to curtail the energy expenditure with a cable or something? No harm in trying.

 

Ok, first, the origin point. Somewhere in my chest was good. After that, the emitter. Let’s go with a crystal, it’s stylish and I’m vain enough that it should work.

 

This done, let’s imagine that this crystal could take the energy directly from my core. Like a magnet or something similar. Oh, yes, the image of several smaller arcs of energy coming from my core to the inside of the crystal were spectacular enough that I could imagine it without much problem.

 

Now, what to do? Another crystal where the spell was – I put it in my head, because function, sympathy, etc. – and then…

 

Oh, let’s go with the Marvel approach: a ray of purple energy/light/magic going from one crystal to the other. And done.

 

The image was pretty complete, I’d say. Now, let’s see if I could actually apply it. A moment’s concentration and...

 

_ “Astral projection through this glass wall _

_ Let my soul be silent like a pall.” _

 

Again, my soul split from my body and, this time, I didn’t dry(soul?) heave for fifteen minutes. Only for five. And… I could feel something different. The energy wasn’t expended as fast, it was more direct and controlled. As far as I could feel it.

 

Which was a pretty big improvement on not being able to feel it at all, I gotta admit.

 

Now, let’s analyze what… mmhhh… still the same six chains connecting the various part of my body: head, arms, legs and chests.

 

If what I remember from the reading I did on Astral Projection when I wanted to try – and subsequently failed to manage – was correct, those should be the things that bind my soul to my body. But there should be only one. Then, why six?

 

Maybe it’s because of the many soul chains (hope whoever Bleach uses as lawyers won’t find me using the term) that my magic depleted that fast?

 

Let’s see… what would happen if I removed the chain on my leg?

 

“..................!!!”

 

Pain.

 

……….

 

But it worked. I could literally feel the energy requirement dropping. By a lot.

 

So, I just needed to do this another three times, huh? Because I wasn’t gonna remove the one connecting me to my head or my chest. That sounded extremely stupid. Also, my left leg had the same feeling as a pudding, so…. yeah.

 

Ok, ok. A deep breath and…

 

“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

 

****************************************

 

I… wasn’t feeling very well right now. Kind of the opposite, actually. I was feeling like… like a lego construction smashed to pieces. All scattered around, together with an uneasiness in my stomach.

 

A quick check told me that it’s just an impression and not a reality. Luckily. Really luckily. I really didn’t want to see what would happen if I had mutilated my soul like I was imagining right now.

 

It’s… not pretty. At all. And the fact that I couldn’t know for sure what the result would be only made me more worried. Could I even recompose myself? Or would I be doomed to have that part of my body – in my actual body, I mean – attached but unresponsive?

 

Things to think about later. Much, much later. When I could  _ ask _ someone about it, so that they can either allay my fears or confirm them, I’d take either one.

 

What was I doing… Right.

 

Energy management, information, escape. With a side quest of freeing the original Speedy and, if I could find him, Superboy. But wouldn’t that cause problems for the Team? I mean… they needed his help in several parts of the adventure. And, if I was correct, he would be pretty hostile towards me. And I wasn’t in any condition to fight him. Not now, nor in the immediate future.

 

Also, I didn’t know how much time I had before they came and ‘disposed’ of me like they said. Either by killing me or by freezing me. I didn’t fancy either situation.

 

Ok, so. Let’s see if I could move without hurting myself or blacking out.

 

……

 

Good news, I could. Bad news, I was slow. I was assuming that the second part was because I was new at this, but I wasn’t sure and I really couldn’t think of it right now. Let’s think about something else. For example, they had a perfect, inspect-worthy thing right here!

 

I felt sorry for canon, which I was gonna kill in three, two, one…

 

Wait, could I even use magic while I was like this?

 

……………………..

 

I should test it. How? Mmhhhh…

 

Well, they did tell me that actions have consequences, but I also read that sometimes you weren’t getting Karma back, you were the Karma coming back to someone – or something like that – so, here I go.

 

“.....”

 

On the other hand, thinking a bit on what to say so I could put it into a rhyme wasn’t that bad. Mmmhhh… 

 

………………….

 

……...got it.

 

_ “Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart _

_ Let us speak without voice _

_ Let us hear only by choice.” _

 

Hope it works.

 

<Roy Harper, can you hear me?>

 

Silence. The deep silence of a dead night, when no one or nothing moved. It was the chilly air of the deepest winter, under a new moon in the middle of a forest, the sky overcast and cloudy, no sign of civilization anywhere near me…

 

<Christ, who the hell is reciting poetry in my head?>

 

Oh, nevermind.

 

<Me.>

 

Silence. This time it was the chirping cricket kind of silence.

 

<Thank you, asshole. And who is ‘You’?>

 

Well, someone’s testy when woken from a… however long… ice nap.

 

<Just another prisoner like you. That is using an untested, potentially dangerous, spell to talk with you telepathically.>

 

I got a distinct feeling of horror coming from Roy, horror and incredulity… confusion… Incredulity again… wondering what the hell was happening… no, wait, that was me.

 

<...what?>

 

Mhhh, he still seemed a bit out of it.

 

<Look, do you want the long explanation or the short one?>

 

I could feel him musing on what to do, milling on his possibilities. In the meantime, I tried to float away from him and see if I could move further away than that.

 

I could, but it was slow. So damn slow. And I didn’t have all this time, dammit.

 

<Are you still here?>

 

<Yes. Have you decided?>

 

<I… yes. I want the long version.>

 

Well, that was embarrassing. I was sure that he would have chosen the short one. Mainly because it was the only one I had to give him.

 

<Well, ok. Basically, we are in an underground, secret laboratory and we are being experimented on. I don’t know how long you have been here, but I know that it has been longer than me. Mainly because they used magic to take my soul from wherever it was and stuffed it into the body I am now. Which was soulless, as far as I can tell. After that, they tried to reprogram me with telepathic commands from a race of bio-engineered creatures called G-Gnomes. I managed to use magic to block their attempt and now, seeing as I’m not programmable, they want to dispose of me after getting all the data they can from my body. Meanwhile, they cloned you and they are using that clone to get information on the Justice League. Oh, and you lost an arm.>

 

Maybe I was a bit too hasty, because I could sense a heavy sense of not-believing-what-I-am-saying from him. Fine by me. Let’s see...

 

<For reference...> I focused on the body inside the cryo-pod, before squeezing my eyes shut and ‘sending’ a mental image to Roy.

 

<I must admit, you aren’t bad looking. A bit scrawny, but not bad.>

 

The sense of not believing turned very fast into embarrassment and indignation.

 

<What the! How?!>

 

<You are literally in front of me right now, buddy. Your body is frozen, but your mind is pretty active. Well, it’s active  _ now _ that I tried to contact you.>

 

And that gave me an awful thought. When I exhausted my magic, I would be forced to break the link. Would that mean that Roy would remain frozen in body, but active in mind? That was a torture that I wouldn’t inflict on almost anyone.

 

Okay, on anyone.

 

With these kind of thoughts, another came unbidden: would the G-Gnomes perceive the link somehow or not? I mean, I cloaked my thoughts and I think I could do the same for Roy, but how much energy would it take? Would I be able to keep the contact going or would it break? And -

 

<You’re lying.>

 

Of course.

 

<Look, I could spend several minutes trying to convince you that I am telling the truth and that I only want to save you, get out of here and blah blah blah. But the truth is that I don’t know how much longer the spell will last, I have no idea if that means that you will return to a sleep state or if you will end up aware but very literally trapped in your own body. So, tell me, is there something, anything, that I can say to you to make you believe me?>

 

Silence. I moved away, exploring several other pods to see what was inside them.

 

Body parts, it seemed. A lot of body parts. Arms, legs, torso without either of them… Some were ridiculously oversized, others ended in naked bone and muscle… It’s something that would be at home in a haunted castle of a mad scientist – or in Hojo’s Laboratory in FF7 – but here it’s pretty creepy.

 

Also familiar, which, really, told a lot about me that-

 

<What’s the real name of Green Arrow.>

 

<Really? Oliver Queen. Some other questions?>

 

<Black Canary.>

 

<Dinah Lance.>

 

<Batman.>

 

Nice trick.

 

<YOU don’t know Batman’s identity and you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Yes, that means that I know who he is, no, I’m not gonna reveal it to you because you wouldn’t believe it and I’m pretty sure that this round of questioning only made you more suspicious, but I really can’t care about it right now. And I do mean can’t in the most obvious of terms. We are on a time crunch here.>

 

Sullen, hardheaded silence.

 

<...fine.> Clipped tones, clearly unwilling to accept that but without any other choice.

 

<Glory, glory hallelujah,> I sent back, with a sense of smug satisfaction that could rival… someone. I didn’t know who.

 

<What the hell are you doing?>

 

I wordlessly sent back the image of the other pods.

 

<Jesus, that’s creepy.>

 

<You are not the one that has to look at them. Also, on another,  _ completely unrelated _ note, can you shield your thoughts from random telepaths and other assorted psychic menaces?>

 

Heavy silence. Very heavy.

 

<... right, telepathic, bio-engineered creatures. I almost forgot.>

 

<To be fair I did discharge a heavy infodump on you. So you are pardoned for almost forgetting.>

 

<Gee, thanks.>

 

The sarcasm was so heavy that it was practically dripping. I, being the more mature of the two, ignored it and continued looking around.

 

<...what are you doing?> his mental voice was reluctant, yet it had an undertone of... desperation or something.

 

I frowned. Why would he be desp- oh.

 

<Searching around, trying to see if there is something interesting or useful for our escape.>

 

<Ah. Okay.>

 

Silence again. I looked at the various pods, at a bit of a loss on what to do. I mean, I could be chatty when I got started, but not at will and… I knew basically nothing about this Roy. I knew about Outlaw Roy, fanfic Roy, and a bit of Speedy here, but…

 

<Found anything?>

 

<Other body parts in a glass can. A computer station. Several boxes of donuts – still edible – hidden behind an old desk, replacement parts for a door, a pen, an eraser and….>

 

I trailed into silence when I found who I was searching for.

 

A cylindrical pod, like the one that Roy was currently inhabiting. The white solar suit. Black hair, fair skin. Muscled body. Closed eyes, but I knew that the sclera was black behind the eyelids. Currently sleeping in stasis. And, as I knew, a feral mind.

 

Lucky me that I had ideas about what we could do to avoid that particular problem. The only problem… how to-

 

<And? And?! OY! Are you still there? And what the hell is your name?!>

 

The shout took me by surprise, but I returned my attention to him.

 

<Yeah, I’m still here. And you can call me Alex.>

 

<Nice to meet you. Now, can you tell me why you stopped like that?>

 

Bossy.

 

<I found what I was hoping was on this floor.>

 

I could feel his annoyance with my continued stop-start talking. It was pretty funny and the situation was way too heavy for me to not try to make things a bit lighter.

 

<And that is?>

 

<Match.>

 

Yes, I was doing it on purpose, pretty obviously.

 

<Match? What the hell is Match?>

 

<Not what. Who.>

 

A sigh.

 

<Fine. WHO the hell is Match?>

 

<A failed clone of Superman. He is violent, basically feral, completely uncontrollable and attacks anything that bears the S Shield. Plus, he has all the powers that Superman has.>

 

The silence that was coming from Roy was the textbook definition of an incredulous silence.

 

<...and you want to free him.>

 

<Yes.>

 

<Tell me that it’s because you want to use him as a distraction and that you want to leave him behind while we escape.>

 

<Nope.>

 

<...surely you don’t want to make him come with us??>

 

I scoffed.

 

<Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to  _ make _ him come with us.>

 

The relief was so palpable that I could feel it as if it was mine. It was unlucky, then, that my next words washed that relief away.

 

<He’s gonna come with us by his own free will.>


	3. Chapter 3: Down the… screaming, feral mind of an alien clone. What the hell is my life, seriously…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, mind trip incoming.

<Are you crazy!?> His mental shout was high enough to make me wince.

 

<Yeesh, indoor thoughts, if you please? I can hear you just fine.>

 

<You clearly can’t! How in the hell is he going to come with us if he is feral? You just said that!>

 

Well, I had to admit that he had a point. But I had a solution!

 

<Worry not! I have a solution. I’ll simply cast the same spell on him that I did on you, then I’ll cast another spell to transcribe my memories of being a real child onto his own and done.>

 

Silence. Then…

 

<Are you completely, utterly out of your mind?> It was asked in a flat tone.

 

<Why? He needs a mind, so if I give him mine...>

 

<You’ll transform him into a clone of you, in the best case. Plus, if the race of engineered telepaths couldn’t manage that, why would you be able to do that?>

 

Silence. 

 

<I... admit that I didn’t think about that.>

 

The scoff coming from him is almost physical <No shit, Sherlock. Any other brilliant ideas?>

 

At that, the hamster in my head started to run, spinning the wheel that was connected to the various gears that moved up and down the dam of my ideas, letting the water flow to the metaphorical mill, where…

 

<Ugh, can you stop with all the imagery? It’s making my head spin.>

 

<...sorry. And yes, I have an idea.>

 

<...why do those words fill me with terror?>

 

<Everything will go well, don’t worry. Now, let’s see if I can string together a few more rhymes before my magic runs out.>

 

<Wait, wha->

 

_ “Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart _

_ Let us speak without voice _

_ Let us hear only by choice.” _

 

Then, he was in our head. It was a cacophony of sounds and stimuli and inputs and who knows what else. The only thing that I knew, it was deafening, loud enough that both me and Roy flinched back. 

 

But I had to forge on.

 

_ “Calm your mind, let us in _

_ Leave your anger, stop its din _

_ Let us in your mindscape walk _

_ And let reason be your rock _

_ Feral thoughts of animal ken _

_ Give way to the reason of men _

_ Here I speak, so I command _

_ Come to reason, by my hand!” _

 

Darkness.

 

*****************************************

 

Maybe it was because I was thinking of the La Divina Commedia or because I was thinking about wolves, but I found myself into a dark forest. Tall trees threw their shade everywhere, making the place seem wrong somehow: some parts were too tall, others too short, others had their shape warped somewhat.

 

“Ugh, my head. What the… hell… happ...”

 

Roy Harper. He came along with me. That… wasn’t my intention. Why did it happen? I mean, the spell I used shouldn’t…

 

Mh.

 

What were the words I used? I think…

 

Yeah, I said ‘us’. Oh well.

 

“It is as it appears, as it seems

You and I went to his dreams”

 

Oh, I’m back to rhyme-talk. Ok then.

 

Now that I think about it, my ability to simply accept things has been a godsend. I wonder when it will stop working and everything will come crashing down on me like a ton of bricks.

 

A problem for future me.

 

“What the… why are you talking in rhyme?” He scratched his head, looking at me, before pointing, “Forget that, why are you made of shadows?”

 

I blinked, before looking at myself; a body made of shadows without real definite shapes, that ended in a tail floating a few centimeters from the ground.

 

“It must be a simple fact, an aftereffect

After all, I don’t know my own aspect.”

 

“Again with the rhymes. What’s with that? You talked normally before.”

 

Right, the mind-link. I wonder, was it still active? A momentary probing of my mind told me the answer was no. Well, ok then.

 

“If it is as I think this matter is, then clear it is

The mind link is the clear answer to the quiz.”

 

Roy looked at me like I went completely bonkers. And I couldn’t really fault him, seeing as I was trying to keep things fairly simple and ended with a overly complicated rhyme.

 

Was I even equalizing the syllables count? Ugh.

 

“To make matters clear cut and done, 

Only in rhyme I can speak. Not fun.”

 

He eyeballed me with a stare that told me everything he was thinking about, but I simply raised an eyebrow at him, before turning – pointedly – towards the forest.

 

Also, it was pretty strange having the feeling of raising an eyebrow when you didn’t actually have any eyebrows on your face, but I had managed to convey what I wanted, so I decided to take the small victories.

 

The trees had changed their positions.

 

“Well, that’s not creepy or anything. So, what are we gonna do?” He hugged himself, rubbing his hands on his arms trying to warm up. He was bare-chested, but with two arms, so I wasn’t sure what happened there. Well, it wasn’t the moment to think about it.

 

The sound of growling echoed around us.

 

It  _ really _ wasn’t the moment.

 

“Fuck. Where are those wolves?”

 

"If I'm right on this matter,

they are the mind's chatter."

 

“The chatter? You mean… like thoughts?” I shook my head, before nodding, then I made the so-so gesture with my hand.

 

"Intrusive thoughts you call them,

The mind's unwanted hum."

 

“Intrusive thoughts? Like when you randomly think strange things like: ‘I could easily kill him’ or ‘This knife is really sharp’?”

 

I nodded at that.

 

The truth was, I wasn’t really sure. But convincing myself served three purposes: Reassuring Roy, reassuring myself and tricking Match’s mind into conforming to what I was thinking.

 

This was pure speculation on my part, but seeing as it was my spell that brought us here and molded the mindscape as I thought of wolves and monsters and dark forests of ignorance, it stood to reason that I could nudge the whole place into the direction I wanted. A bit like a game of Changeling The Lost and the Hedge.

 

I just needed some things to make all of this endeavor work: enough magic to last until the end – which I wasn’t sure I had and I really didn’t want to know what would happen if I exhausted my energy while still in here – the representation of Match’s mind, and the exit of this forest.

 

“Are you done with your staring into space? We need to move if we don’t want to be… what do you mean no?”

 

I was shaking my head in negation.

 

“Just unformed thoughts, they are now

Turning into wolves, let’s not allow.”

 

His expression was, once again, filled with confusion, before coming to the realization I was trying to convey.

 

“Wait, are you saying that this place answers to our thoughts?!” His horror-stricken face was kind of funny. I nodded, a smile on my shadow face, a cut of light in the darkness.

 

“Worry not. Because, for us to win the fight

We find the innocent and bring him to light.”

 

“The innocent?” Again with the confusion. “Wait, are you talking about the clone?” I nodded, before starting to walk, completely unconcerned with the growls. Mmhhh… let’s see… could I take a branch and use it as a dowsing rod? No, Match doesn’t know anything about them. I could try to… but wouldn’t…. if I…

 

“Uh, buddy… do you remember the part about not making the growlie things real because they could eat us?” I didn’t  **exactly** put things like that, but… “Because, I’m thinking that they didn’t exactly need our permission.”

 

His finger was pointed behind us, where a pack of wolves had just came from the shadows. And they weren’t normal wolves, they were more like the monsters of fables: coats made of shadows, eyes glowing vitriolic yellow or virulent red, fangs as long as daggers shining sharp white, and claws cutting furrows in earth.

 

I gulped.

 

"What fun,

let’s RUN!"

 

We both turned and dashed away from them, leaving the wolves howling and running behind us, the growls and howls following us with intentions that were not good.

 

“WHERE DO WE GO?!” I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders at the same time, to signal that I had no idea. Note to self: next time try to think a bit more about the consequences of your actions!

 

“FOR THE LOVE OF...! FOLLOW ME!” And he took a sharp turn around a tree, making me stop and scrabble on the ground to follow him. No, I have no idea how it worked when I was floating on the ground, but it did.

 

The maws of a wolf almost closed on my shadowy behind, but I managed to accelerate just that little bit needed to reach Roy again, sending him an interrogative look. He threw a glance back, before changing course and running towards a tree, putting one foot on the bark and launching himself upwards, grabbing the branch overhead with one hand, the other extended towards me.

 

“COME ON!” I took three more steps, before jumping towards him, as high as I could go – and no, I still don’t understand why I couldn’t simply fly upwards – and grabbed him with both of my hands.

 

After that, it was a scrabble to climb the tree until we were high enough that the wolves couldn’t reach us.

 

“Damn, that was close,” Roy gasped out, breaths short, gulping air like it was going out of style. I was doing the same thing.

 

“How the  _ hell _ did you think we could help him if just his  _ intrusive thoughts _ are enough to bring us down?!”

 

I took another couple of gulps of air, before turning towards him and studying him.

 

“If we wish him to learn control

Our knowledge must fill the hole.”

 

“ _ We can’t! _ If we do...” His hiss turned into a pensive frown. “You have something in mind. What it is?”

 

I looked at him, before gesturing towards the forest around us.

 

“Let a hunter from our knowledge be born,

to teach until ignorance is forsworn."

 

This time the confusion didn’t come back, but a calculating look, instead.

 

“You want to use the metaphorical nature of this place to teach him. Using our knowledge and memories, but without turning him into a mixed copy of us.”

 

I nodded at his serious face, before cocking my head to the side in a silent question.

 

He turned towards the rest of the forest, apparently infinite. We could have wandered inside it until we had exhausted our energy and never got out.

 

“It could not work, you do know this, right?” I nodded, but I also shrugged, trying to convey my message: what other choice did we have?

 

He messed his hair, a frustrated look on his face, before glaring at me.

 

“We  _ could _ ’ve avoided this whole thing. But, seeing as you are a complete fucking  **madman** , we are here, doing this whole thing.. Very well, do your hocus pocus.”

 

Rude. But right, so… let’s see…

 

I raised my hands and summoned my magic. It answered, even if it moved really strangely. It was like it started really slow, before accelerating all of sudden.

 

_ “As if teaching to a pure, newborn foal _

_ A great hunter I call, teach him control! _

_ To discipline thoughts, words and action _

_ Give body to this necessary abstraction!” _

 

Purple energy twisted around me and Roy, before plunging inside my head and his own, almost making us fall from the branches to the slavering maws of the wolves below.

 

I swear that I saw all of my early life passing in front of my eyes. And I mean every single lesson my parents and my early teachers taught me. Mainly how to control myself and what to do and so on. I presumed the same thing happened to Roy, because, after a few seconds, a figure materialized near us, on another branch.

 

He – because the creature had a strangely  [ familiar ](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/berserk/images/d/d4/Irvine_Manga.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20110509112016) male figure – tall and slender, with a pointed hat with two black-tipped feathers in it. A dark grey tunic, dark green tight fitting pants and a cape that reached his knee. A pair of grey boots up to his knees completed the ensemble.

 

His eyes were completely white, without corneas or irises.

 

He looked at us, before glancing down and taking a bow in hand. It was a longbow made of black wood, with what looked like an eye in the center. He nocked three arrows, before letting them flying.

 

Three beasts fell. The others howled, in pain, before vanishing.

 

Light.

 

***************************************

 

There was ringing in my head. A rather loud one.

 

“Jesus christ on a cracker! That was bright.” Roy, still at my side, blinked several times, before looking around. “Where the hell are we?”

 

The forest was gone, along with the hunter. Now we were in what looked like the ruin of a city, rubble everywhere and not a single intact building anywhere in sight. There also was a rather specific pattern to the ruins: Flat at the top, then it curved and returned flat, like it was…

 

“...an S.” 

 

Yep.

 

Roy turned towards me with a rather worried expression on his face.

 

“Alex? Why does Match attack anything that has the S shield?”

 

“Did I not already tell you? It’s my bad.

To defeat Superman, they created this lad.”

 

“Yeah, I was worried you would say something like that.” He chuckled, turning towards the rubble and giving them a pretty good look.

 

“Jesus. Do you think that this is the programming they tried to instill in him? They did a number, uh?” What could I do? I nodded. I suspected that this was his behavioral center or something like that. It would make sense, seeing his obsession about Superman and other S-related things.

 

That would mean that the forest was his instincts. And once we taught him how to tame that, it was his behavior. We needed to teach him again.

 

“Well, what are you waiting for? Do another abracadabra and we can help this poor kid. No one deserves what they did to him.”

 

My surprised look was enough to make him glare at me. “I’m not without a heart, you know. And it’s not like he is a villain or a monster or something like that. His only crime is being born. And I can’t really fault him for it, can I?”

 

True. Still… I looked around myself, unsure on what to do. How does someone even start trying to help him if his mind was a literal pile of rubble?

 

“You have no idea on what to do?” I nodded at him. He stared at me, before looking at the panorama around us, a pensive expression on his face.

 

“Didn’t you say something about bringing the innocent to the light? Showing him reason?” I blinked at that, before nodding.

 

“Well, can’t we do here what we- you… we did before? In the forest?” Beyond the blushing, he was pretty right, but...

 

“The metaphor, I assumed it was the case.

Seeing the events, I wouldn’t bet my face.”

 

“You… are not sure that it’s how it works? Did I interpret it right?”

 

I nodded.

 

“Well, you are right, but I think that we should try all the same. I honestly doubt we could cause further damage to this place.” And he waved a hand towards the ruins.

 

I sighed. He was not wrong.

 

“Very well, I’ll give it a try.

Let’s hope we don’t all die.”

 

I almost stumbled when he slammed his hand on my back in a friendly slap.

 

“Attaboy. That’s the attitude. Now, come on. Go on with the magic.”

 

I looked around, trying to collect my thoughts, Roy looking at me with an expectant look in his eyes. I’m not a fairy godmother, you know? But…

 

_ “Well, to start, and to start well _

_ In this place you cannot dwell. _

_ Of your mind the ruined skein _

_ Stop the ache and stop the pain. _

_ Ruins of before, no more a pawn _

_ Dared mind-control, now begone!” _

 

I snapped my fingers and a rush of magic came out of me. Then, an expanding circle of rubble all around me started to vanish, faster and faster, costing me less and less energy. Apparently, he wanted to forget the – I’m assuming – pain that all of this represented.

 

Roy grinned at me, before nodding. I took a deep breath and nodded back, going on.

 

_ “To encourage growth and health _

_ Of sun, green and trees, a wealth.” _

 

The sky went from overcast-lead-grey to a cheerful blue, smattering of white clouds all around. A yellow sun, yellow like the real one cannot really be, shone in the sky, while all around us appeared a green lawn, that quickly expanded, trees growing from it in fast forward.

 

Then, some small plants started to appear. Berry bushes, ivy, several types of trees and we even heard a birdsong.

 

_ “Because it is the mind’s fuel _

_ Let here the knowledge pool.” _

 

On the side, a library appeared from nowhere, slowly being sketched into existence. First, it was barebones, simple support beams without walls. Then, from my head and from Roy, books flew out like birds, nesting on the various shelves that had appeared from nowhere. Then, the building got cream-colored walls and tall, imposing doors, windows and even a chimney.

 

Then, completely unprompted by me, a wood cabin appeared, soon surrounded by a small copse of trees all around. From it, the hunter we created before appeared, a small, black haired child behind him. Roy turned to me, his mouth open in shock. I wasn’t much better.

 

“I… think that’s him.” I nodded. Then he started to smile.

 

“Dude, that means it’s working! Keep at it!”

 

I inhaled, before smiling and nodding. What else did he need? Companionship, learning how to behave with others… A school. With other children.

 

_ “A place where you learn how to learn _

_ A school for you to always adjourn. _

_ And to complete the sorcerous trick _

_ A playground with friends, quick.” _

 

Another rush of magic, this time bigger than the last. It almost cut my breath, but I persisted.

 

A tall building, this time made of red bricks, appeared on another side, between the cabin and the library. It had wooden doors, grey frames for the windows and a bell. A bit old school, but nice. Then, right on the side, a playground, big enough to house several dozen children, with slides, swings and a seesaw, football fields and so on.

 

And then, the children. They appeared from nowhere. Then, other buildings started to appear, in a logical cascade of connections. But it still wasn’t enough. It was too unchangeable, too static. I glanced at Roy from the corner of my eye, before looking inward, at my magic. I was nearing my limit, but I should be able to do what I needed to do.

 

IF I was careful. Now, would it be better if I returned Roy to his body now or…

 

I started when I felt his hand grab my wrist and squeezing.

 

“You think you are being stealthy, but you really aren’t. I’m not going anywhere until you have finished and if you try to send me away, I will drag you with me.”

 

I blinked, faux-innocent. Inside, I was trying to understand how he managed to discover what I was thinking.

 

He scoffed. “I’m an archer, it’s my job to see things. Now conclude.”

 

I pouted, but turned towards the fast growing town.

 

_ “To let you outgrow the childish ways, _

_ Let it be be both good and bad days. _

_ Day and night, in eternal dance, _

_ To make you grow and advance. _

_ To love and try what is really life, _

_ Try the joy, the sadness and the strife. _

_ As time goes and pass and runs and flows, _

_ you can try the summer and the snows.” _

 

This was the biggest expenditure until now. Almost all of my reserves rushed out, so fast that I nearly didn’t manage to whisper the last line and barely succeeding to stay conscious. I managed, though.

 

I could only guess that it was thanks to my demon blood.

 

_ “To make you live well in the long run, _

_ Your body corrects what’s left undone.” _

 

I grasped the wave of magic that was used for the whole mind-shaping spell, adding this part about his body, too, before pouring more energy to be sure it would work. To let me  _ hope _ it would work.

 

That  **did** make me fall, only the grip Roy had on my wrist preventing me from faceplanting on the ground.

 

“Hey, Alex! Don’t pass out now! You did it, you did it. Let’s get outside of here, so you can sleep, okay? Come on buddy, you can do it. Just send us back into our bodies, ok? You can do it. I believe in you.”

 

I was pretty sure that he was just trying to encourage me, but it still was pretty nice of him. So, really, what could I do?

 

_ “Done the work, time for a just reprise, _

_ Back to our bodies we go in a breeze.” _


	4. Chapter 4: The chapter where I engage into a classical demonic hobby. And not much else.

I reappeared outside Match’s pod, tired to the bone but pretty happy. I did it! We did it! Things were-

 

****************************************************

 

I woke up in my body. Tired as I had never been before. Even more tired than when I woke up for the first time in this body.

 

And the headache wasn’t helping.

 

Really wasn’t helping.

 

Checking my spells, I had dropped the mental communication one, but not the thought-shielding one. So the headache wasn’t from the G-Gnomes – which I couldn’t see around right now, luckily for me – but it was all me. Joy. Because that’s exactly what I needed, more headaches.

 

With a… no, let’s wait a bit. I needed to rest for a second, I was just way too tired.

 

I slipped back into sleep without even noticing it.

 

******************************************************

 

When I woke up once again, I was feeling a bit better. The headache was gone and the feeling that my bones were being turned into broth had passed almost completely.

 

While I was basking in the ‘just woke up’ feeling, an unwanted thought came to me, just to ruin my lazing around: Roy.

 

To be precise, a Roy that had been trapped in his head for an unknown amount of time. Plus, you know, there was the fact of the whole ‘kill the spare’ business that Desmond had decided to enact.

 

Reluctantly opening my eyes, I could still not see the G-Gnomes. Good. I could see Roy, though. He didn’t move from his position, which was good.

 

Also, he was frozen in place, so… yeah.

 

I need to think on how I could resolve the whole armless problem. But later. For now…

 

_ “Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart _

_ Let us speak without voice _

_ Let us hear only by choice.” _

 

The fact that I’m pretty sure that I blacked out for a second clued me in on the problem: I was running low on energy. Really, really low. 

 

What I did with Match was probably more exhausting than I thought. But, as long as I didn’t do any permanent damage (to myself) it was okay. I would recover.

 

<...ex! ALEX!>

 

The mental shout jolted me out of my head… metaphorically speaking, obviously. Or should I say that brought me back in my head?

 

<Yeah, okay, you’re good if you can think about absurd mental questions like that.>

 

The fact that Roy could appear so dismissive was exactly like him.

 

<Gee, thanks for your concern, Roy. I don’t know what I would do without your help.>

 

His answer was immediate. <Make a mess. A giant, probably irreparable, mess.>

 

Well now. THAT was a bit uncalled for.

 

<A mess like trying to copy your mind to a clone without thinking about it.>

 

Yeah, okay, but…

 

<Like using too much energy in one go so you pass out.>

 

It’s not like I had planned to…!

 

<Like forgetting that he is scheduled for termination and not thinking about the consequences of his actions.>

 

…………………….

 

<Fine, you win. Happy?>

 

His mental reply was smug. <Very. Now, let’s talk about what we will do to escape from here.>

 

Mh. Apparently he didn’t want to rub anything in. Good to know.

 

<So, what’s your plan?> the redhead asked. I really couldn’t resist.

 

<Escaping.>

 

Silence. Then…

 

<Ha. Ha. Ha. Smartass. Is there more than that to the plan or not?>

 

Well, when he put things that way…

 

<Not really, no. Mainly because I can feel myself black->

 

And I simply fainted. Again.

 

************************************************

 

I woke up once again, but this time I could see Desmond standing in front of my pod. Not good.

 

“Still nothing. The G-Gnomes didn’t manage to enter your mind from the moment you woke up. This is… unfortunate.”

 

He turned towards one G-Gnome that was riding on his shoulder.

 

“Notify the others. He will be disposed of in the next two days.” And he turned, walking away with his lab coat fluttering behind him.

 

Asshole.

 

I looked towards Roy, checked my reserves and then I spoke the spell once again, forming the connection between us.

 

<We have problems.>

 

His answer wasn’t exactly the one I expected. <Problems? PROBLEMS?! Hell yes, we have problems! You dropped from the communication all of sudden and leave me alone until you contact me again! Especially after telling me that you are going to black out! What the hell?!>

 

Whoops. <Not my fault. I’m really low on magic and...> I took a brief pause to check the state of my internal reserves. It’s incredible how easy it is to check when the feeling of having it is so prominent.

 

And yet I only felt it when I went and searched for my reserves. I really hope that this wasn’t a sign of things to come.

 

<And my magic is being funneled towards… something or someone. I can barely keep this spell up.>

 

Silence. Accusing silence.

 

<...you did something.> His tone was, in fact, accusatory. And resigned.

 

I wasn’t sure which one was more offensive.

 

<I didn’t do anything that you weren’t there for!>

 

<Then you did something wrong while I was present! It’s Match, isn’t it? The way you tried to help him… it was too easy, I knew it.>

 

<It’s not that bad!>

 

The feeling of a glare was a strange thing to feel from a mental link. A really strange feeling.

 

<Remind me, how much time do we have before the people in this creepy secret lab somewhere dispose of you?>

 

<....two days tops. The dude, Desmond, was talking in front of my pod. I could try to extend the time if I dropped the mind-shield spell, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.>

 

<Yeah, no. Giving things that are created to brainwash people access to your brain is a straight up no.>

 

An uneasy silence fell on us, clearly unsure on how to continue. We should try to think of a plan to escape, but… we didn’t have the nerve.

 

<Go to sleep.>

 

That caught me by surprise.

 

<What? Why this all of sudden?>

 

<We need you to be at the top of your game if we want to escape. Let’s hope we are lucky and we have two days. We’ll use one to allow you to recover the energy you need to break both of us out of here and then we run. If the whole thing with Match works, good. If it doesn’t and you are still tired from it, we’ll carry him and escape all the same.>

 

I blinked.

 

<But if I go to sleep, you will be alone. In your head.>

 

The mental scoff was enough to make me smile a bit. <Do you think that I can’t stand a bit of time alone with myself? Please. Go to sleep already and I’ll do the same.>

 

And the link slammed shut on his end.

 

Well, okay. If he was so set on this, I’ll do what he want. He was the expert superhero here.

 

…………….

 

Wait, wasn’t he caught after only a few mon….

 

***************************************

 

When I woke up – again – I was rested. Not well rested, not completely recovered, but rested. And, after a rapid check to my energy levels, well enough that I could do more magic. The drain on my reserves from whatever I did to Match had lessened considerably, but it was still going. I glanced around and it seemed that there were no G-Gnomes or annoying scientists or anything like that around.

 

Good.

 

_ “Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart _

_ Let us speak without voice _

_ Let us hear only by choice.” _

 

<Roy?>

 

<You awake?>

 

The answer was instant. That… I wasn’t sure what to think about it.

 

<Yeah, I’m awake. I’m feeling better. You?>

 

<Fine.>

 

Ok, not good. I think that it’d better it I got both of us out of these pods and then we’ll talk face to face.

 

Ok, focus. What kind of rhyme would work better here?

 

_ “Glass coffin, leather cuffs, metal latch _

_ Now open, now snap, now detach.” _

 

The bindings on my body snapped open without a sound, the pod’s door hissed and started to open. No alarms started to blare, so I took that as a win.

 

Now, to repeat the trick with Roy’s pod….

 

_ “Glass coffin, leather cuffs, metal latch _

_ Now open, now snap, now detach.” _

 

The pod in front of me hissed, trembled, then opened. A jet of supercooled air froze the room in its immediate vicinity, exposing the older boy to the open air, wisps of white vapour still clinging to his skin. He wasn’t naked, but he wasn’t covered either. Only a pair of shorts to cover for his modesty.

 

He stood there, motionless, balanced on his two feet for a moment. Then, he fell outside, like a dead body.

 

Straight on me, squishing me against the floor, turning me into his personal cushion to slow down the fall.

 

And he was still sleeping. I needed him awake now. Mainly because he was pretty heavy. Muscles are  _ heavy! _ .

 

Think. Think…

 

…………..

 

_ “Open your eyes, you Sleeping Beauty _

_ Be alert, be awake and ready for duty.” _

 

Clunky, but functional. Whatever, as long as it works.

 

Magic washed over Roy with a mist of purple fog, swirling around the stump of his arm and his head, before I could hear him groan, voice thick with sleepiness for a moment, before my magic washed that, too, away.

 

“What the hell… Ugh, why am I on the floor?” he muttered, still not making any attempt to get off me.

 

“Now that you’re out of your lockup

Do me a favor and get the HELL UP!”

 

My voice shook him into moving and in a moment, he was up and away from me, only to lose his balance and fall to the ground, the loss of his arm and the long sleep messing with his reflexes and center of balance.

 

“What... Fuck! My arm!” He waved his stump around, the flesh tapering down to a blunt end a bit above the elbow, his expression disgust, fear, panic and anger, all mixed up.

 

“Take a breath and calm down,

In your emotions, do not drown.”

 

“Calm down? CALM DOWN?! I LOST MY FUCKING ARM! I! LOST! MY! ARM! I’M AN ARCHER!! I CAN’T SHOOT WITH ONLY ONE ARM!”

 

Ok, fair. I bit my lip and looked around, thoughts swirling in my brain. Roy was clearly working himself into a panic attack, already starting to hyperventilate. If I couldn’t calm him down, he would probably faint or do something really bad.

 

What the hell could I do to calm him down? Wait, maybe...

 

“Calm and let’s make a deal; we both can agree

I give you back your arm and you help me flee.”

 

“A DEAL!? Wait, what did you say?” he screeched to a halt, turning his attention to me. “Giving me back my arm? How?” He was now suspicious, but it was pretty obvious why. Still, I nodded and waved my hand in the universal gesture for ‘magic’.

 

“Of time we don’t have a lot

Do you agree or do you not?”

 

He bit his lip, looking between me and his stump, before his teeth drew blood. “Very well, I accept. So, what...”

 

I stopped listening in that moment, because I could  _ feel _ Roy’s presence near me. And all the power I could now access.

 

It was like a person-shaped sea, filled with energy, only begging to be used. And I did have a deal to keep, didn’t I?

 

_ “To start very well and to make you excel _

_ The frame needs to fit you better than well.” _

 

Magic enveloped me like a nimbus, purple with streaks of red and green, before fluttered around the stump, creating a phantom limb made of energy. It was a perfect fit, it even moved when Roy tried to move it.

 

_ “As a stitch in time saves nine _

_ Let’s check if the insides align” _

 

The energy became more defined, taking a more natural shape. Inside it, a mockup of bones, veins, muscles, tendons and everything else manifested, slowly shifting and moving to take a more natural form than the textbook look they had before. They adjusted to his height and overall shape, until everything was practically perfect.

 

_ “To make ends meet, we’ll use what’s around _

_ And craft your arm from what I’ve just found.” _

 

I waved my hand towards the direction where I saw various knicknacks; the broken computer, the replacement parts, the spare door. And the donuts, but those were for eating, not using them for the arm.

 

Also, there were the various biological parts inside the pods, but I was pretty sure that they were outside the scope of the spell.

 

… I hope.

 

Metal came flying towards Roy, sparking purple, red and green, flowing like liquid and wrapping around him. The parts from the computer came and disassembled, turning the electrical cables into veins, the liquid from screen becoming some sort of lubricant for the joints, chips and other internal parts were inserted inside the metal bones and turned into marrow and nerves, before the eraser came flying, the rubber stretching and multiplying, forming the tendons. Then, everything was covered by more metal muscles, concluding everything with a skin made from the glass, that looked somewhat chromed, strong and fragile at the same time..

 

The end result was some sort of Cyberpunk slash Urban Fantasy slash Mad Inventor thing.

 

Roy was completely speechless. So was I, to be perfectly honest, but I had to go on and conclude the spell, unless I wanted him to die from poisoning or something else.

 

_ “To make it work and conclude the spell _

_ Make it alive and let it be good and swell.” _

 

I snapped my fingers and a single spark of magic jumped from me to the arm and, after a moment, Roy clenched his new shiny fist with nary a sound, reacting exactly as his flesh-and-blood one.

 

“Well, I’ll be damned...”

 

His whisper almost caught me by surprise, making me jolt out of my own reverie of his new shiny arm that I managed to create thanks to magic, rhymes and a sudden power up in the shape of a human sea of magic.

 

At the last part, my thoughts screeched to a halt, harder than Wile. E. Coyote trying to avoid falling off a cliff.

 

The human-shaped sea of magic was still there. I couldn’t access it anymore, but it was still there, clearly present in my perception.

 

Where the hell did it come? I’m pretty sure that I didn’t have that before: it was so strong that it was basically glowing to my senses, and, if I had it before, I wouldn’t have missed it. I was absolutely sure.

 

Then, where did it come from?

 

My musings got interrupted thanks to two arms grabbing me around my chest, lifting me off the ground and started spinning around, making me feel a bit dizzy.

 

“Thank you! I don’t know what I would have done if I never accepted your deal!”

 

Then the spinning stopped, Roy putting me down on the ground and coughing awkwardly, embarrassment tinting his cheeks pink.

 

Still, thanks to his words I understood where the sudden power up came from.

 

I had made a deal with him to snap him out of his panic attack. And I was a half-demon.

 

Apparently, even just half-demon was demon enough to make deals. Good to know.

 

What did I ask from him? I think it was help in fleeing? Only that, if I’m right.

 

It could have been worse.

 

“Dude, you know, you are pretty short. I thought you would be taller.”

 

Roy’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, again, before I looked at him. To be more precise, I looked at him, trying to gauge why he was telling me… right, new body. I was an SI now.

 

I turned towards the pod and tried to look at myself in the distorted reflection in the curved glass.

 

I had black hair that fell around my shoulders, I was as pale as a vampire, bordering on a shade that made me remember Klarion’s skin, black eyes and red lips. Beyond that, scrawny body and really young-looking. I could ballpark… twelve, thirteen? At most?

 

And short, but that’s okay.

 

“Dude, you’re what? Five foot? Maybe?”

 

I looked at him with a curious glance, before returning to my reflection and started checking my head, especially under my hair, trying to see if I had any horns or other demonic features, stopping almost immediately when I found the first one: black nails. A minor thing, all said and done, but it was a first.

 

Beyond that, I only had the ears a bit pointed, nothing really noticeable, and sharp canines.

 

“Are you done?” Roy’s question came from behind me, but it was mostly absent-minded. He was still trying to practice with his arm and see if it had anything special. For now, he only found that he could snap his fingers and a flame would come out of his thumb. Something akin to a lighter.

 

I moved away from my reflection and walked towards him, bare feet slapping against the tiles. Cadmus Labs really liked the short pants look for their experiments.

 

<We can go to get Match and escape, now.>

 

“Right, him. I really hope that all that mucking about we did in his head worked, because if it didn’t, we’re in really hot water.” His expression was pretty grim.

 

I really hoped things would go well, but I couldn’t really know how things would go, so… let’s hope things will go well.

 

We started walking towards Match’s pod.


	5. Chapter 5: Escape Room Game. Cheating not allowed, but we cheat anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun. And comment, if you want.

The air was cold. Not frigid, but cold. It made sense, with all the pods around here keeping the body parts in what looked a lot like stasis in various sci-fi movies, tiles under our bare feet making both me and Roy shiver with every step we took.

 

I had no idea how much time we had to escape before someone, anyone, discovered our absence from the pods.

 

I toyed with the idea of turning back and throwing an illusion over them, but a quick assessment of my energy levels said that I didn’t have the strength to do that.

 

I munched on one of the donuts, trying to move my thoughts away from the mad scientist’s lab around us. Mmhh... cherry.

 

“Pass one, will ya? I’m starving,” Roy’s voice called from my side, the redhead just now stopping his exploration of the new arm and made the universal motion of ‘gimme’ with his hand.

 

I was a bit worried, because he was in suspended animation for several years, without any type of solid sustenance… what would donuts do? His stomach could have been shrunk to the size of a pouch.

 

On the other hand, he did look fairly tired, so… maybe the sugar would help?

 

Another consideration to make was the fact that his body hadn’t physically aged, so maybe his stomach was okay? Only one way to know.

 

I took another donut, this one with chocolate, before moving the box towards him, letting him choose which one he wanted. The movement almost dislodged the box, but I was lucky that the three boxes we had found were all closed and rectangular.

 

A bit stale, but still pretty good as first food eaten in the Young Justice universe. Or Earth-16. Whatever.

 

“Say, do you think you could be able to create a bow? I feel kind of naked without a weapon.”

 

I looked at him with an incredulous look on my face. After swallowing the mouthful of donut, I gestured at his body, still covered only by a pair of white boxer shorts. And he felt naked without a  _ weapon _ ?

 

“What?” He looked hilariously offended, while I simply shook my head and kept walking.

 

Heroes...

 

A minute later…

 

“I admit, I didn’t expect this when you talked about an escape from an evil laboratory hidden underground. I expected something more... I dunno, explosion, pursuit, maybe a blaring alarm. Not a walk down a hall while eating donuts.  _ Stale _ donuts.”

 

I shrugged. What could I say? He was right. Those were my expectations too. Still, for him to say it like this…

 

I glanced around, but the alarm didn’t start blaring all of sudden, a troop of G-Gnomes or mad scientist or some genetic abomination didn’t come running from the nearest corner and Lex Luthor didn’t appear from nowhere.

 

He didn’t seem to have jinxed us. Good.

 

We had also reached the place where Match was kept in stasis and the moment of truth. Would he attack us or not? Would he be feral? What kind of behavior would he have?

 

Only one way to find out.

 

_ “Glass coffin, leather cuffs, metal latch _

_ Now open, now snap, now detach.” _

 

I could feel the spell moving towards the pod. It was like a mist, searching for every crack in it and seeping inside the spaces between the crevices, running down electrical cables and playing hopscotch with the codes and passwords. Basically, it took the path of least resistance to open the pod.

 

The hiss of the pod’s door made me and Roy tense up in preparation. It was the moment of truth.

 

Match remained motionless for an endless instant, before he started to move forward.

 

Well, to be precise, he started to  _ fall  _ forwards, faster than either of us anticipated, landing straight on me.

 

His weight, his height and his whole mass simply slammed against me, completely ignoring my attempts to keep him up. Both of us ended on the floor, he still asleep, while I was struggling to move him away.

 

Roy, very helpfully, was laughing to the side, bent in two.

 

<Very funny redhead! Now, kindly, HELP ME!>

 

Luckily for me the mental contact was still active, because trying to find a rhyme in this situation was a bit beyond me.

 

“Su- ahahahahah… sure, sure...”

 

Still chuckling, Roy grabbed one of Match’s arms and dragged him upwards, attempting to lift him away from me. Only, when he tried to do that, he almost got dragged down.

  
“Holy…! What the hell is he is made of?! Rocks?!” He let go of the arm and the limb fell on the ground with a dull thud.

 

Match, being invulnerable, didn’t feel a thing and kept on sleeping… yeah, he was asleep. It was pretty obvious when I could feel his breath on the juncture between my neck and amy shoulder.

 

He was also freaking heavy, as I had already said and I was starting to feel a bit breathless.

 

<Step away. I’ll see if I can do something.>

 

“What are you...” Roy questioned, already moving to grab Match, but I was already casting my new spell. Hoping I would manage to finish the rhyme before running out of breath.

 

_ “Seeing your current state, _

_ Stay near us and levitate.” _

 

Purple energy danced around his body, tinting his white suit into a deep lilac, before vanishing. After that, Match started to float upwards, stopping around the height of my shoulders, apparently relaxed.

 

There was a small draw on my energy, but nothing particularly taxing. For now.

 

“Well, that works, I guess. Up you get.” Roy took my hand and dragged me to my feet, face still smiling and tinted with amusement.

 

I shot him a dirty look, before patting myself and looking towards the other half of the floor: pods after pods that vanished in the distance, the place that big that I wasn’t able to see the end.

 

A quick glance to Roy showed that he was looking in the same direction and was clearly frowning.

 

<Roy, what does your archer eyes see?> Because I could  **not** resist the reference. He didn’t take the bait, sadly, but narrowed his eyes before relaxing.

 

“There is a door at the end of the hall.”

 

Well, that was something. And it’s not like we had any other ideas. So we kept going, towards the end of the hall, towards the unknown, like the Fellowship of the Ring towards Moria, but without the wise wizard that…

 

“Dude, we have a mind link! Could you stop with the mental rambling?”

 

Whoops.

 

<Sorry.>

 

“Yeah, whatever, just stop. We’re here.”

 

I raised my eyes and saw the door: it was massive, easily big enough to let an elephant through, made of an opaque grey metal that looked pretty resistant. In the middle, a zig-zagging line that I presumed was the way it opened.

 

On the left of the door there was a console, apparently on, at least if the blinking lights on it were any indication. The screen was off, though.

 

We both stood there for a moment, Match floating behind us without saying anything, by virtue of the fact he was sleeping.

 

“How to open this door, do you know what to do?

Because I’ll be honest, I don’t have a single clue.”

 

“Well, it depends on how secure the computer is. I can try to see if...” he said as he walked towards the console, turning it on – apparently it wasn’t, the lights were just to show that it was connected – and started trying to get access to it.

 

I, on the other hand, simply took a step backwards, put my hand on Match’s shoulder and pushed him a bit lower, low enough that I could use him as a seat. I choose to sit on his stomach, for more than one reason, even if it wasn’t exactly comfy, seeing that he had rock hard muscles.

 

Whatever, I now had a floating chair/person. Which was pretty good, seeing as I was tired.

 

Physically tired, even with the very low amount of activity I did. Yet, thinking about it, it stood to reason: this body of mine had never done any physical effort – as demonstrated by the fact that I was stick thin – and now I was walking without shoes, keeping pace with someone who was taller and faster than me.

 

I simply didn’t pay attention to it because, even if everything was calm, I was a person prone to a bit of anxiety.

 

Still, returning to floating chair/person… I needed to figure out a way to enchant objects and make a flying quilt. Maybe one of those plush quilts that they sell at Ikea…

 

The sound of the door slowly moving attracted my attention to Roy, which was looking at it with a sense of satisfaction literally emanating from his form, his hands on his hips.

 

“Well, I managed to open it, but I can’t be sure that I didn’t trip some sort of alarm somewhere, so we should… what the hell are you doing?”

 

He looked at me, eyebrows lost in his hair and mouth slightly open in incredulity. I looked at him for a moment, before realizing that he was talking about the fact that I was sitting on the rescuee.

 

“I’m tired and we must make haste

So I removed unnecessary waste.”

 

He didn’t seem to understand what I was meaning, so I gestured him towards me, before grabbing his magicked up arm once he was in range. Then, I grabbed the solar suit on his leg and nodded.

 

Roy looked at me with a single eyebrow raised, his face clearly asking for an explanation. I floundered with the words for a moment, before giving up and opening the mind link.

 

<I’m walking too slow and I’m pretty tired. This way we can move faster and with less noise.>

 

“Suuuure.” he rolled his eyes, before turning and moving beyond the door.

 

I started a bit from the sudden movement, but I clamped on his hand and on Match reflexively, getting dragged towards the stairs behind the door.

 

They were large, large enough to let a small truck pass, going both up and down.

 

“Up, I’m guessing? Seeing as you said that we were underground...” Roy mused, not really asking me, looking towards his right, where the stairs leading up were located.

 

I nodded assent, before gesturing for him to go.

 

“I’m not your packhorse, you know?” And yet, he still started walking up the stairs.

 

***************************

 

Our escape from the underground lab was going well. What was more, it was going  _ boring _ .

 

No alarm. No unfortunate encounters on our way up with what I was pretty sure were the service stairs. No locked doors. No frantic escapes from drones or genetic monstrosities. 

 

Nothing. Only closed doors on the various landings we passed, without even doors to separate the stairways.

 

“I can’t believe this, it’s so boring

that I could be asleep and snoring.”

 

“Yeah. Are you sure we are in an underground laboratory of a mad and/or evil scientist? Because those have, usually, security and, I dunno, killer robots or something.”

 

“Like monsters in cages or acid vats with catwalks over them?”

 

“Yeah, exactly. But we didn’t see anything, here. Hell, even the cameras are out of order.”

 

And Roy pointed at one of the cameras in the corner. It was clearly out of service, seeing as it was lightly smoking.

 

“I’m going to say something funny:

Maybe they don’t have any money?”

 

“Or, listen to me, maybe they got their funding cut or they got discovered by the JLA and had to pack everything up and leave?”

 

That… actually made sense. I bit my thumbnail and leaned back a bit, the heat of the chest behind me comforting, seeing as the air was still quite frigid.. Roy seemed a bit worried at that suggestion.

 

“That… could be true. But if they had, why they haven’t found us or explored the floors or... something?”

 

“Oh, well, that floor was a secret one, right? Maybe the lab had some sort of failsafe or a closed net or something like that.”

 

And  _ that _ made an alarming amount of sense. What’s more, if they had something like that they could also have something like a self-destruct system or something similar. 

 

Which would be very bad. For us.

 

“Wait, I think I’m seeing something ahead.” Roy raised an hand, stopping right before a sharp bend in the corridor. Then, he peeked behind the corner and, after a moment, nodded, still with his back turned to us, before gesturing with his hand to go.

 

Behind the corner there was a rather impressive door, still circular, but this one was closed with several metal bars, two different consoles at the sides of it. With what looked like retinal scanners.

 

And the stairs ended there.

 

“.... they take their secrecy pretty seriously, uh?”

 

Roy nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think I can hack it.”

 

“We don’t care about foul play

I could try and magic it away?”

 

Roy nodded and an arm squeezed me in brief hug around my midsection. “Do you have enough energy for that?”

 

I nodded, already focusing on what I could say to open the door. Vanishing it was, I think, impossible for the current me, so I needed another way. I could open every part singularly or open it all together. Would that make the alarm ring?

 

I couldn’t say for sure. It didn’t for the door from where we entered the stairs, but it could for this one.

 

The decision was taken away from me when the alarm started blaring, red light strobing around the hallway..

 

“Oh hell! What the hell happened?!” Roy swore.

 

“I have no idea. Maybe the JLA?”

 

“It could be anything. And we don’t have time. Alex, can you open up the door or not?”

 

Fuck it. I nodded and breathed in a lungful of air. This was going to be exhausting, I could tell.

 

_ “Metal door that the way blocks _

_ Turn into feathers of peacocks!” _

 

I didn’t have the time to think of a way to phrase things so that the door would open, so I simply brute forced it. It was clunky, again, but it still worked. I need to start writing down the rhymes for various situation and collect them in a book or somewhere like that. 

 

Eyes shining purple, I pointed my hand towards the door and a ray of magic sparkled from it, hitting the door.

 

After a second, it vanished into blue-green-and-purple peacock feathers, gently falling to the ground.

 

“Wow.”

 

“Well, I’ll be damned. Good job!” Roy cheered, turning towards me, before freezing.

 

And then,  _ very calmly _ , Roy looked me in the eyes.

 

“Alex?”

 

I blinked at him, nodding.

 

“How we didn’t notice I really don’t know.

Maybe because he went with the flow?”

 

“Eheh, probably.” And Match hugged me a bit more, arms as steel bars locking around my chest. They didn’t cut my air, but only barely. It was a clear warning against trying to speak any spell.

 

“Still, I guess that the trying escape from the mad scientist’s lab, the risk of turning a corner and being spotted, the possibility of traps… Really, it’s not that difficult to believe. Also, I slowly made more and more noise to let you get habituated to my presence.”

 

“Son of a bi-”

 

“There are children present!”

 

I blinked, before looking up to him, ignoring the way he had moved his hands over my ears, like he was trying to not let me hear what Roy had just said.

 

“To calm your fear a bit and assuage

Know that twenty-seven is my age.”

 

Match simply hummed, the sound strong enough that I could feel the vibrations in my bones. What the hell, is he part cat?

 

“Good to know it. Still, your body and brain is around… mmhhh.” He stared at me, his blue eyes surrounded by the black sclera were a bit unsettling, but still mesmerizing, especially with the way they glittered under the stroboscopic lights of the alarm...

 

Oh, right. The alarm was blaring. Whoops.

 

“Yeah, twelve years old. So, if we sum them up then divide them by two, your age should be around 19 and half years.”

 

That logic didn’t really make much sense, but, seeing as he had my life literally in his hands, I was inclined to agree with him.

 

……………………..

 

You know what? No, I’m not.

 

“I don’t really care if you can tie my bones in a knot,

that logic should be dragged out back and shot.”

 

Oh dear, it seems I misplaced my sense of self-preservation somewhere between dying and being reincarnated.

 

Roy muffled a hysterical laugh, waving me off as Match raised an eyebrow.

 

“Ok.” Wait, he agreed? “Then you’re twelve.”

 

…………….

 

I glared at him. There wasn’t really any other way to say it.

 

“You’re cute when you’re trying to glare me to death, you know?”

 

… 

 

Error 404: Alex.exe has stopped working. Please Reboot the system.

 

“Dude, are you going to tease him for much longer? We need to go.” Roy was still suppressing his snickering, but he managed to cough out some words that broke the whole situation up.

 

“Yeah, sure. I think I can remember the way to go to use the Emergency Exit.”

 

Ok, that was worrying. Match was remembering things about the lab? That means that the mental programming they used on him didn’t disappear?

 

Roy’s face was frozen into the shift from a smile to a more serious expression, horror slowly dawning on him.

 

“What’s with those faces?” Match, on the other hand, didn’t look worried or menacing or anything like that. Which was, maybe, the most worrying thing of all.

 

I mean, it’s not like he had something to be worried about, seeing that he could kill us easily.

 

“Why are you so scared? I’m not going to hurt you or anything, you know?” He was smiling. I could hear it in his voice.

 

“Well, sorry if I don’t believe you right away. After all, it’s a bit difficult to believe you when you are keeping my friend hostage,” Roy snarked, his magicked up arm twitching as if he wanted to move and take something.

 

Maybe an arrow? I mean, he was an archer, so…

 

“Oh, that? Here you go.” And he set me down.

 

He set me down, not even letting me go, really set me down on the floor.

 

“And I wasn’t keeping him hostage. I was just making sure he didn’t fall.”

 

And he smiled.

 

“After all, we three are best friends, aren’t we?”


	6. Chapter 6: What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attempt at Feels.

The silence was deafening.

 

Or, well, it would have been if not for the alarm.  **That** was deafening.

 

“I’m sorry?” Roy was as surprised as me and he didn’t have to talk in rhymes, so he was the one to speak.

 

Match simply smiled. “Yep. I mean, how many people would willingly enter the mind of a feral clone of one of the most powerful beings on earth just to try and save him? Even if someone had motives slightly more than altruistic...” He glanced at me with a knowing look.

 

I was puzzled for a second before it hit me like a lightning bolt.

 

Fuck.

 

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

 

_ “Because it is the mind’s fuel _

_ Let here the knowledge pool.” _

 

On the side, a library appeared from nowhere, slowly being sketched into existence. First, it was barebones, simple support beams without walls. Then, from my head and from Roy, books flew out like birds, nesting on the various shelves that had appeared from nowhere. Then, the building got cream-colored walls and tall, imposing doors, windows and even a chimney.

 

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_

 

Knowledge. No limits on what it meant, so it took  _ everything _ . Because everything can be knowledge. So, now, he didn’t only know everything we ever knew, but even all of my meta-knowledge, plus my various fantasies.

 

Which was embarrassing for more than one reason.

 

I could feel myself turn red, while the gasp of breath from Roy told me that he had understood what Match was talking about.

 

Match, in the meantime, kept smiling. “Don’t be so scared. It won’t last for much longer.”

 

………….

 

Whut?

 

He explained without either of us prompting him. “Too… faint. More like impressions than real words. To be clear, while I know what your thoughts and impressions were at the moment, I’ll lose them after a few hours, at most. That, obviously, had some after-effects.”

 

He landed on the floor with a soft thump of padded soles, before picking up a feather and twirling it in his hand.

 

“First of all, I’m gonna feel like you two are my friends or more for… well, a lot of time, I guess. It’s kind of unavoidable. And yes, that means that I will wonder if I’m doing things by my own free will or because of your influence, things like hobbies, some personality traits, my reactions and so on. But that was something you expected, up to a point, didn’t you?”

 

He pointed at me with the feather, the purple ‘eye’ on the top of it glaring accusingly.

 

“What you are more worried about is if I will start to resent both of you – or more specifically Alex – for my feelings, worrying if you have effectively mind-controlled me, removing my ability to create a personality that is mine and only mine, always worrying that I am being a friend with you just because I can’t do anything different. Am I right?”

 

Roy turned to me with his eyebrow almost to his hairline. I shrugged in answer.

 

“I overthink, it’s what I do.

Usually until my brain’s goo.”

 

Match nodded. “Yup, you do. You are also kind of socially blind. Which I am not, thanks to Roy there,” pointing at the archer in question with the feather.

 

“What either of you failed to take into account was the way the whole thing was set up in the metaphorical headspace when you removed the remains of the programming. Basically, by giving the internal me a whole city to play around and storing the knowledge into a library, I could decide which parts of it to incorporate into myself and what parts to simply keep as knowledge, like reading a book.”

 

He seemed pretty calm and his explanation made sense. Then Roy decided to cast some more doubts on the whole thing.

 

“Then how do you know what were our thoughts and ideas?”

 

Match nodded at that, again pointing with the feather. I, just because I was starting to feel a bit fidgety, took one from the floor and started twirling in my hands.

 

“Good question. It’s simple, I’m accessing it right now. After all, I’m still basically a ‘newborn’, so to speak, so my brain is pretty plastic. I’m not saying that I will remember these things forever, but that for now, I still have a pretty clear idea. I’m supposing that it will be gone at sunset. Really, I’m just using it to smooth things over before they become problems.”

 

That left both me and Roy perplexed, exchanging looks.

 

“To be clearer; Roy, meeting with Green Arrow is not a bad idea, but you need to time it properly. Alex, you didn’t brainwash me and force me to be someone I’m not. How do I know?” he cut me off before I could even ask. “Because whoever I am now, it’s who I  **really** am. Simply because before, I wasn’t anyone. Feral, remember?”

 

Oh.

 

Well, that… Now I felt stupid. Why didn’t I think about it?

 

Wait, did that mean… “No, I’m not your son.”

 

Relief washed over me. 

 

“Neither am I your brother or some other kind of relation between us that isn’t that of friends. From my part, I feel that you are very dear friends who took a huge risk to help me and were there for all my life, even if it was only in my head. But then…  _ just because it was happening in my head, doesn’t mean that it isn’t real. _ ”

 

Dumbledore. Beyond the whole debate about his moral character, those words were pretty on the spot. Both in that situation and in this one.

 

“Well, okay. I… really don’t know what to think about this but I also know that this isn’t the right moment to speak. It’s the moment to escape from here, seeing as this alarm has been blaring for at least five minutes. And we are going to get ambushed in the next five, if what I know about secret labs and alarms are true,” Roy spoke, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

 

Match simply nodded. “These corridors and several floors below us are shielded with lead. Superman can’t see them with X-Ray vision and, seeing as the alarm is still active, anyone who is hacking the network of the labs must not have found it either. So we only have to worry about the G-Gnomes and others.”

 

Roy’s head snapped towards Match, already on high alert. “Others? What kind of others?”

 

At that, I kind of winced and looked down, while Match looked to the side, a faint blush covering his cheeks.

 

“Ahah… well, the G-Gnomes aren’t the only kind of Genomorphs that exists. There are… Well, beyond the G-Gnomes – that you have already seen – the G-Elves, who are more or less the same size of a human, with a tail and claws. The G-Trolls, super strong, the size of an elephant or bigger and with horns on the side of the head. The G-Dwarves are short and heavy set, mostly workers, but have tentacles that end with sharp pincers. And, lastly, the G-Sprites, but those are basically used as electricity generators and never let out of the glass pods where they are ‘stored’, sooo...“

 

He seemed kind of uncomfortable with the last one, but so were we.

 

“Ahem, still… as long as I’m with you, I don’t really think that any one of them could even scratch me,” he boasted, smirking.

 

“Indeed.” The voice caught all of us by surprise, coming from a comm at the side of the door. The alarm stopped blaring a second later.

 

“Who…?”

 

“What…?”

 

It also sent all of us on high alert, ready to defend ourselves.

 

“There is no reason to be afraid. I admit that I didn’t know that there was another Superman clone inside Cadmus Labs, but that only show at what level of perversity the humans that run it are,” the voice kept on talking, completely calm and without any apparent panic.

 

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dubbilex, one of the Genomorphs that are enslaved to work in this laboratory. I would like to help you like I helped the others, but I don’t have the codes to open the door in front of you all. I didn’t even know that there were more levels, despite the presence of G-Gnomes. They must have blocked their telepathy somehow.”

 

Dubbilex. It was the one who had attracted Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad here. Then what was their status?

 

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have a question

about the heroes and their progression.”

 

A moment of silence from the speakers, before Dubbilex spoke again. “Ah, yes. The three young heroes are escaping from the lab with the young Superboy right this very moment.”

 

I nodded. This was good. It meant that it was pretty late and we had the chance to escape undiscovered.

 

I glanced at Match. Well, with Match undiscovered. Then my eyes turned towards Roy, remembering the whole Red Arrow problem.

 

Fine, with all of us undiscovered.

 

“Fine, Dubbilex, if you really want to help, can you tell us where the nearest exit is?” Roy almost shouted, clearly wanting to get out of here. I could almost hear his teeth grinding.

 

“While I am able to talk to you, I do not know where you actually are. The encryption is too complicated for me. If you manage to open the door, I’ll be able to guide you towards the nearest exit.”

 

“The door is open! It’s nonexistent! Went poof!” Roy shouted, this time, pointing towards the open passage where the door was once.

 

I twirled the feather without even a shred of remorse. It took a lot from me, but it was worth it.

 

“Yet, you don’t appear on the cameras. That tells me that you still are in one of the secret areas.”

 

Match whistled lowly. “Cadmus Labs don’t do things small, uh? Still...” he said as he scooped me up with an arm, before grabbing Roy around his waist and lifting him too. “...it would be best if we moved.”

 

And he shot forward, a cloud of peacock feathers following us for a few seconds, trapped in his draft. 

 

I’m pretty sure that, if seen on TV or in the pages of a comic book, it would have been suitably cool or dramatic or even beautiful. From my position, though, I couldn’t see anything that wasn’t straight in front of me. On the other hand, I could grip the arm around my chest tightly and enjoy the ride after the first moments of surprise.

 

I had always liked roller coasters and this only reminded me that I needed to create a sustainable, maybe even passive, flying spell ASAP.

 

Match flew fast, staying mostly in the center of the hallway, floor and stairs, with Roy shouting something at him. Judging by the way he was waving his arms, it was something seriously violent. Match simply smiled.

 

In the end, we stopped right in front of another door, similar to the one before, with the two consoles to the sides and the bars on it.

 

“Well, here we are. I guess.” I rolled my eyes at the Kryptonian’s attempt to be funny, before pointing at the door with my right index finger. I was sick and tired of this place and I wanted to get out and find something to eat.

 

_ “For I want to be free _

_ Then, Open, says me!” _

 

What looked like a lightning bolt of purple energy shot from it and hit the door, running through the various grooves and locks and openings, flickering on and off until the whole door opened, bars retracting and the massive slabs of metal silently sliding open.

 

Beyond the doors, there was a simple hallway, going both right and left, this time in more metal colors, instead of the strange flesh-red that was there before, like some sort of Lovecraftian horror in progress.

 

“Now I can see you. Very well, then. Please take a left and continue until the end of the hallway; once you have reached the end, there will be a door that will open to the service stairs. Go up five floors, then exit.”

 

Well, that’s useful. Very useful. Also a bit creepy how he managed to find our position within a second of our appearance on the cameras, but okay.

 

“Well, okay then. Let’s move!”

 

“Wait a sec!”

 

Match’s cheerful voice almost covered Roy’s shout, before we shot away again, the air slamming against my face and making me smile again.

 

Yeah, flying spell was a must. Moved up to the top of the list.

 

It took us very few moments to reach the door to the stairs that opened the moment we reached it.

 

Again, useful.

 

The stairs were the common staircase that one could find in any office, two ramps per floor, tight corners and doors to other floors on every landing.

 

Match shot up, taking the corners at high speed and laughing all the time. The movement wasn’t the most comfortable for either of us, though, seeing as we weren’t protected against the G-Forces or the air like an invulnerable Kryptonian-clone.

 

Roy was screaming something, but seeing that he didn’t have his neck snapped or something similar, I guess that Match knew how fast he could move before things went badly. Very badly.

 

And yet, at the end, we reached the door to what seemed to be the exit of this mad scientist’s laboratory. Match stopped in front of it, letting me and Roy down on the ground.

 

He seemed… hesitant.

 

“..and then I’ll shove a Kryptonite arrow up your…! What’s the problem?” Roy stopped his tirade the moment he saw Match with his hand twitching, half extended towards the handle of the door.

 

He kept on moving towards it, before stopping and moving back a bit. Repeated over and over.

 

“Hey, Match. What’s the problem?” 

 

Match stiffened, like he had been struck by a lightning. Then landed on the ground with a sigh.

 

“Right, Match. That’s my name, huh?”

 

Both me and the redhead blinked, confusion plain on our faces. What was the problem? I mean, that’s what was called in the cartoon, Project Match… Ohhhh, right.

 

“Sorry, we assumed Match was your name.

What moniker, as your own, will you claim?”

 

That sent another jolt running down Match’s spine, while Roy had the classic lightbulb expression for a second, before assuming a far more compassionate look.

 

“I… It’s stupid. I mean, it’s the way I even called myself all this time. I didn’t even think about it until now. ‘Match’. Eh.” He shook his head, looking downwards at his hands.

 

“I mean, it’s a good name, no? It’s not particularly strange or anything. It’s just… I just realized what being called Match would mean. I mean, even if I decide to keep Match as a name, every time someone called me I would hear ‘Project Match’, ‘Superman’s Match’, ‘the plan to replace him if it was ever needed’.” His smile was sort of strained, like he was trying to force himself to present the facade of being amicable.

 

Like he didn’t want to be a threat.

 

“Buddy… you’re shaking.”

 

Roy’s voice came from the blue, making him raise his eyes towards him.

 

“Look.” He pointed at Match’s hands that were, effectively, trembling.

 

“Ah. I… Why am I…?” And now Match was starting to breathe faster. Awesome.

 

“Sit down with us, will ya? Take a couple of deep breaths and listen to what I have to say.” Roy slid down the wall at the side of the door and stretched his arms over his head, before patting the ground at his side.

 

I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but I took one of Match’s hands and tugged him towards the wall.

 

He let himself be guided, looking at me with empty eyes, slowly sitting at Roy’s side. I plopped down on the brunet’s other side, legs crossed.

 

“I don’t get it. I really doubt that I can get it, even if I was to enter in your head again. Mostly because I don’t have the framework to really  _ understand _ what you are going through, but I get that you are scared.”

 

He took a deep breath, before going on. “I mean, you are on the edge of a really big decision. You’re going to see the world outside your head and you have no idea how that world will greet you. Will you be shunned or embraced? Will you have to fight to be seen as a person? Will you always be considered a clone and hated for what you were meant to do? I bet that’s what are you thinking right now, right?”

 

Match nodded, looking at him with eyes as big as dinner plates, looking more like a child than the physical powerhouse he was.

 

Roy ran his fleshy hand through his hair, before nodding. “I get it. I mean, I understand the feeling of being on the edge of a big decision.” A moment of pause. “You two know that I am… was… am Green Arrow’s sidekick, right?”

 

I nodded, mimicked by Match a second later.

 

“Well, I lost my parents when I was thirteen. It was…. I had my world crumble on myself. I was… destroyed. The only thing that kept me going was… God this sounds stupid… It was the fact that I had discovered who Green Arrow was. And, without my parents, I needed something to grab on and keep tight, something that could give me a focus.” His voice was trembling, now. “So I trained. And studied. And trained. And trained some more. And then, after I thought it was time, I went to Green Arrow. And I was ready to show that I could be his sidekick. More, his  _ partner _ . Robin was still relatively new, then, but he was already pretty successful. So I said to myself...”

 

And here he stopped for a second, before dragging a breath inside his lungs, sounding like it was physically painful doing so.

 

“I said to myself: you are ready, Roy. You trained nonstop for a year, you like Green Arrow and he seems like a nice guy. He wouldn’t treat you badly even if you fail. And you aren’t gonna fail anyway, so why wait anymore? You might lose your opportunity to someone else if you don’t go now.”

 

Another rattling breath.

 

“So I went. And, in that moment, the moment I was going to open the door of my apartment and go to Green Arrow and show that I could be his sidekick, partner,  _ whatever _ … I froze. Completely. Like you did.”

 

Match’s gasp was low, but so sudden that startled me from my focus. I glanced towards him from the corner of my eyes and he looked... well, shaken.

 

“In that moment, the moment when my hand was moving to grip the handle of the door and open the way to my new life... it was the scariest, most blood-freezing thing that I ever did in  _ all my life _ . I was going to take a  **massive** risk for an unknown outcome in the simple  **hope** that it would turn out how I wanted it to. I was literally going to use my one and only chance to become Green Arrow’s partner’s on that day.”

 

Roy looked at his hands, biting his lips and drawing blood.

 

“I stood there, motionless, for… a long time. An hour, maybe. Maybe less, maybe more, I don’t remember. I literally blacked out standing upright. When I finally managed to calm down a bit, I had to make this… huge speech to myself to calm down. And, in the end, I managed to convince myself to go.”

 

A beat of silence.

 

“It hadn’t been easy. I almost turned back several times, before I managed to reach his house. And even then, even beyond the show I put up, I was literally a moment away from breaking.”

 

He tried a shaky smile that looked more brittle than spun glass. “And, in the end, I was his partner only for a few months. I was still drunk on the success and the euphoria of being a superhero, tried my hands at a solo investigation and got caught. And then I was here.”

 

I couldn’t restrain myself anymore. I scrambled across Match’s lap and threw my left arm around the redhead’s neck, while hooking my right one to hug Match.

 

Then I ‘dragged’ both of them into a group hug. I say dragged, but what I mean is that I tugged them towards me and they followed suit. It took a couple of moments, but they did follow me into the hug, so I was okay with that.

 

It took them a couple more moments before I could feel their arms hugging me back. Then, Roy let out a muffled sob.

 

Match did the same.

 

I simply stood there, letting the two of them relax. They didn’t cry, at least I don’t think they did, but I could feel a couple of drops falling on my shoulders, so maybe they did cry a little.

 

All the same, I wasn’t gonna judge them for it. With the pressure that was on me and Roy from the start of this whole thing and the way Match was worried about the future, it was perfectly understandable.

 

Also, I was no stranger to crying myself and I try to not be a hypocrite.

 

It took a few minutes before they moved away and I became aware of my position, half draped on Match’s lap with my legs behind me on the floor.

 

I dunno how, but I managed to simply ignore it and drag myself up on my feet, smiling at the two boys. They smiled back at me, before getting up.

 

“So, what do you wanna do?” Roy’s directed the question to Match, a small smile on his face. Match huffed a little,  his lips raising a little on the corners.

 

“Well, I’ll have to think about a new name. But for now ‘Match’ will work.”

 

He then turned towards the door and, this time, managed to grab the handle.

 

“And I think that it is time for me to take my first step into the outside world. But I want you to know that I can only do this...” he gestured towards the door, “Only because you two helped me. Thank you.”

 

I could only answer in kind, smiling at him.

 

“Our strength to you we will lend.

And you’re welcome, my friend.”

 

Roy rolled his eyes at that, before smiling at Match. “What he said. Now, go on. Open that door.”

 

The brunet smirked before grabbing the handle and turning it open.


	7. Chapter 7: If how it starts it’s how it continues, we’re screwed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are made. Also talking. Lots of talking.

The first breath we took in this new world (Me and Match) or after years of stasis/imprisonment (Roy) wasn’t the sweet scent of freedom or a cool breeze of liberty.

 

It was just a whoosh of urban air; smog, different gases, concrete and something unique to the city.

 

And yet, it was better than anything else. Strange how it works.

 

Outside, it was dark night, the sun already set by several hours, the street cold to the touch.

 

Also, I was only in shorts and the only thing saving me from freezing was the fact that it was summer and the air was still warm from the day before.

 

And yet, concrete wasn’t comfortable under my feet. And, judging by the way Roy’s face was twisted into a grimace, he wasn’t exactly happy.

 

On the other hand, we were in an alley, apparently a couple of streets away from the main lab on the surface, in what looked like a normal office building. Effectively, now that I thought about it, having one – or several – secret exits in the surrounding buildings.

 

“So, this is the world, uh? It’s… different from how it was in my head.” Match’s voice shook me out of my distraction, making me turn towards him. Roy was the one that actually asked, though.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“It’s just… everything’s different. The stars aren’t so bright, unless I’m using my powers and the air doesn’t have the smell of the forest. It’s… disorienting. Like getting on an airplane, sleeping, and waking up somewhere completely different.”

 

Oh. I didn’t have any personal experience, but I could understand the feeling, at least. I put my hand on his arm, trying to be comforting, and he rewarded me with a smile.

 

Then the main lab building behind us started to explode and crumble.

 

“I suggest we move away from here. Now.” Roy’s voice was tight, and we kind of looked at each other, not sure where to go. Then, an idea sparked in my brain.

 

“Like all roads lead to Rome,

Let’s go to Green Arrow’s home.”

 

“What? Why?” Roy was pretty startled by that, clearly surprised that I would suggest something like that, especially in the light of the whole clone business.

 

“A place you know, a place you trust.

Good as any to let us all adjust.”

 

“Ok, well, that makes sense.” Roy nodded, while Match seemed to be thinking about something.

 

“I think I can get there fairly fast. I  just need to remember the way towards it and then we can fly straight there.”

 

“Not a good idea to fly straight there,

Someone could catch us in the air.”

 

Both of them looked at me, before they understood who I was talking about: Superman.

 

“Ok, no flying. Then, how do we reach Star City? We have no money or ID, so airplanes and buses are straight out. We could try hitch-hiking? But it would take hours just to reach outside the city and with how we are dressed...” he mused, Match looking at him with an attentive look on his face.

 

I shook my head and snapped my fingers to grab their attention.

 

“We use what can cover a lot of terrain:

We go to the station and take the first train.”

 

Silence.

 

“I’m assuming that you mean illegally?” Match asked, scratching his head. “Seeing as we don’t have any money.”

 

I nodded and turned towards the redhead, the question clear in my eyes. Roy stared at me for a moment, before looking at Match and then at his arm. Then he threw his hands in the air, clearly just done with the situation.

 

“Fine! Let’s go and board a train illegally! Maybe we could even take a cargo train, just for the clichè value! Just… let’s get away from here, ok?” And he rubbed his own flesh-and-blood arm, looking to the side.

 

Match seemed to want to talk to him, but, in the end, he didn’t. So we stood there. Unmoving.

 

Until I decided that it was freaking ridiculous, that people wouldn’t die if we took a train illegally and that I still had a lot of magic to use, seeing that I used a lot less than I thought I would during our escape.

 

Ok, so, first thing first, clothes.

 

_ “Cover all of us with clothes _

_ Something that we would choose.” _

 

Purple magic twisted around us, turning into a whirlwind of light and sparkles, like something from Cinderella.

 

The nimbus embraced all of us within itself and obscuring our shapes, lifting all of us in the air, with the shouts of surprise from the others.

 

After a few seconds, the whirlwinds of purple smoke and sparkles vanished, leaving us far more clothed than before. I had a black t-shirt, a purple hoodie with devil’s horns on the hood, black jeans and knee-high boots.

 

Roy had a red sleeveless shirt, a light brown jacket, blue jeans and sneakers. With black leather gloves covering his hands and a pair of sunglasses on his face.

 

Match, instead, was dressed with a t-shirt with the S-Shield reversed and on a black background, black leather jacket, black cargo pants and sturdy boots.

 

“Warn us next time,” Roy grumbled, while he was checking his gloves. Match, in the meantime, was looking at himself in a glass window of the building.

 

“Damn, I look pretty good!”

 

I kind of expected that.

 

Then I snapped my fingers again, attracting their attention, before trying to signal them that I was going to cast again.

 

They looked at me like I had told them that I was a monkey. So I simply… cast again.

 

_ “To solve the problem, I’ll be Cassandra tonight _

_ And let the way to the train station be alight.” _

 

And, to my eyes, a smoke trail, Skyrim-style, appeared, moving towards my right.

 

Looking towards the other two, they didn’t seem to see it, so I shrugged and pointed towards the smoke. Both of them looked at me, Roy skeptically, Match curious.

 

“You want us to go that way?” I nodded. “Why?”

 

“To the train station I found the way

And I’m sure to not lead you astray.”

 

“I trust you,” Match answered almost immediately, before moving towards me, arms already extended to grab me. I took a step back in reaction, not really sure why, but it didn’t seem to deter him. Roy, the traitor, simply stood there with a faint smile on his face.

 

“Come on, you know that you won’t be able to last until the station, you don’t have the leg muscles or the stamina. It will simply be faster if you let me carry you.” He kept on advancing, his smile showing a bit more teeth after every word.

 

I glared at him, going backwards, until I hit the wall.

 

Then I glared even harder. Match was undeterred.

 

In the end, I ended in his arms again, one around my chest and the other under my ass, holding me like a small child.

 

Which, I’d admit, I kind of was, but only in body and, maybe, not even in that. Whatever. I had lost this argument, so let’s just… stop thinking about it and let’s simply go.

 

“So, oh intrepid leader, which way do we need to go?” Roy asked, smiling at me. Clearly just barely keeping back his laughter, the traitor. 

 

I had to consciously stop my teeth from grinding, before pointing towards the path that my spell was showing me. The trail of gray mist extended as far as my eyes could see; it would take a while to reach the station. Let’s just hope we didn’t take all the night to reach it.

 

*********************************************

 

It took longer than any of us liked before we managed to reach the station, but no one appeared from the shadows to stop us, no superhuman alien descended from the sky to grab us and no other super-being, of either villainous or heroic inclination, appeared.

 

So, basically, it was just a tense, forty-five minute long walk towards the station. And, once we reached it, we got unpleasant news: travel time.

 

With me being from Europe – more specifically, from Italy – I thought of train travel in terms of hours.

 

But I was in America. And Star City was on the other side of the country.

 

We were looking at two days of train travel. We would need food and water long before  we would reach the first stop.

 

“Mhhh… as I suspected.” Roy knew. And he didn’t say anything.

 

“If the train wasn’t the way to go,

Why didn’t you just say so?”

 

If my tone was a bit accusing, well… I felt that I had at least enough indignation in me to warrant this little outburst.

 

Shut up, I know I was being unreasonable. Let me have this.

 

“Because we don’t have any other good ideas. Trying to cheat airport security with magicked up documents wouldn’t last and it would send a lot of red flags in the system. And taking the bus would take even longer. So, trains are our best bet. Unless you two want to call in the league?”

 

And he looked at us, waiting for any kind of answer.

 

Great, now I felt guilty. Match simply hummed.

 

Let’s not forget that he was still holding me up. Which only added to the guilt, now that I thought of it.

 

“Ok, we need to see which train is scheduled to go to Star City next, when it departs, and how we can infiltrate it. Better if we take a cargo, they make less stops and have less security. After that, we need food and water. I’m assuming that you can take care of waste and cleaning?” Roy asked me, to which I could only nod. 

 

Magic was useful like that.

 

“Then, we need to find a general store or a mall and… I can’t believe I’m saying this… appropriate the necessities from the back. At least that way, it would be chalked up as a miscount or something.”

 

Roy stood there for a moment, looking into the distance and muttering something too low to be heard, before he dropped his head in his hands and sighed. “From teenage superhero to store robber. I almost can’t believe it. Except that I can, because not even my worst nightmares could be this twisted. What the hell did my life become...”

 

Then he glared at us. “Well? Get a move on before I change my mind and march all of us to the police!”

 

Match literally flew away, without even reflecting about it, and me with him. Being carried was useful, but not being able to decide where to go was kind of grating.

 

Kind of grating a lot.

 

“So, where should we start? Clothes? Backpacks? Food? No, backpacks. That way, we won’t need to keep everything in our hands.”

 

The train station of Washington D.C. was big and well furnished. It was also filled with stores that were, obviously, closed at this time of the night. And cameras. And lots of people.

 

And we had to find a way to loot the stores without anyone finding us.

 

Yeah, time for some magic.

 

“We need to avoid the camera’s stare:

Find a bathroom and hide in there.”

 

“Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, one sec...” He looked around for a moment, before striding purposefully towards a door with the signs of the toilets and entering.

 

It was relatively empty, the floor cleaned recently and still a bit wet. Match decided to float a bit over it, to avoid leaving footprints. I pointed towards one stall and, after we were safely secured inside, I started checking the ceiling to see if there were any cameras or recording devices.

 

“Any cameras that your eyes can see?

Their sight and stare I wish to flee.”

 

“Uh, one sec, let me check...” His eyes started shining a bit, and he moved his head around, before looking back to me. “Nothing.”

 

Good.

 

_ “Magic of Darkness, I call upon your might! _

_ Hide us both from natural and unnatural sight!” _

 

A cloud of purple magic rose from the ground, powered by my energies, slowly rising and twirling around both of us, slowly turning pitch black, rising until it was over our head.

 

Then it fell in a gentle shower of black ash, slowly setting over both of us, covering every inch of our bodies, clothes and all. Even the parts where it couldn’t even reach it normally.

 

But then, it was magic. Costly magic.

 

Also sustained. Frack.

 

“We need to move quick and fast,

I don’t know how long I can last.”

 

“Got it. I’ll fly above the crowd and try to see where we can find our supplies. Hold tight.”

 

And he took off, opening the stall and floating out of the bathroom, before rising up near the ceiling and looking around, probably with X-Ray vision. Same as before, with the cameras.

 

It took him no more than a few minutes before he started flying again, moving in the tunnels of the station with an ease that could be mistook for familiarity, if the light in his eyes wasn’t telling me that he was still using his vision to cheat.

 

After a moment, we reached what looked like a store for school supplies.

 

“They have backpacks on the shelves and there are more in the back. I figured it was a good place to start.”

 

It was. There was a problem to take care of before we could enter, so I stopped Match and pointed towards the door.

 

_ “Light, bend to my adamant will, _

_ Until dawn, the door stands still.” _

 

A faint shimmer could now be seen on the door, but only for a moment. Then I cast again.

 

_ “Things that bind and block _

_ Now do as I say and unlock.” _

 

“Well, the door just clicked. I’m assuming that you both opened the door and created an illusion of it?”

 

I nodded. Magic was awesome, but it was also pretty tiring if you didn’t know what you were doing and I was literally improvising everything. Also unsure of how many times I could repeat the trick.

 

Match flew to the door and opened it, with the door not actually moving at all. It was kind of freaky.

 

“I admit that this is… kind of cool. Strange, but cool.”

 

Passing through the illusion was… well, like if one tried to move through the Northern Lights, we moved through a curtain of different colored lights, blinding us for a moment, before we reached the other side and we were in the store. We moved towards the back, before Match stopped.

 

“Alarm system.”

 

Right, that was a concern, too. I nodded, mind whirling away on what rhyme could work to avoid the alarms…

 

_ “Security system of science borne _

_ Stop your working under my scorn!” _

 

I was pretty sure it worked. Also, why was there a security system on the back door instead of the front... door...?

 

My eyes were wide open when I turned back and pointed my arm towards the rest of the shop, words ready to spill from my lips, but nothing came.

 

“What? Did you see something? What happened?” I shook my head at Match’s questions, simply unsure on why the alarm didn’t go off when we opened the door. I mean, I was starting to guess how, but… If my magic really took the path of least resistance, did it mean that it deactivated the alarm because it was the easier way to do it? Or did it work on more metaphysical laws and an open door didn’t need an alarm because, after all, if it’s open it meant that people were welcome to come in?

 

I didn’t know and I was pretty sure that it would come back to bite me in the ass later. But as for now, I could only pay more attention.

 

“Alex!” Match’s almost shout made me turn towards him. He seemed worried, looking at me like I was doing something dangerous.

 

“Calm yourself, I’m fine and well.

I was daydreaming, in a nutshell.”

 

“Ah. Ok. Just. Don’t do it again? At least not in the middle of a mission, I mean. We still need to complete the first objective and move on.” Then he chuckled to himself, a smile on his face. “‘The first objective’! We’re sounding like we are in a spy movie! I can’t believe we are already acting like...” then he frowned, forehead scrunched in concentration. “...well, I guess we are acting like thieves? But it’s for a good cause! We are just taking what we need to make the travel towards Green Arrow’s city and, after that, he can repay them. After all, he’s rich, no? And Roy is his ward, so… And don’t vigilantes and heroes break the law, too? It’s just a small thing, nothing worthy of note. After we have some funds, we’ll repay what we took, easy. Yup.”

 

He seemed convinced. Good for him. I, honestly, didn’t really care. That said, we needed to move, so I tapped Match on the arm that was still around my waist and pointed towards the back once again, making him move. We didn’t have too much time, we still didn’t know if there was a train and when it departed, if there was one.

 

A good reason to move faster.

 

In the back, there were several pallets of different merchandise, stacked one on another, clearly with a system that we didn’t know. Still, finding the backpacks was pretty easy.

 

We got three and, luckily, they were even JLA themed. That answered the question if their mark was marketable. So, a Superman backpack, a Green Arrow one and, for me, I took a Captain Marvel one.

 

We left after that, only stopping a moment to grab some notebook, pens, pencils, erasers and pencil sharpeners. Then we closed the door and flew away.

 

I used this time to check my energy. And then I discovered something that kind of shocked me; I still had the Roy-shaped energy sea inside me.And it was actively feeding me energy.

 

…why? We escaped already, I didn’t understand what… oh.

 

The sea of energy vanished into nothing in the moment I told myself that we had already escaped, leaving me lightheaded and feeling like someone had taken a bite out of me. And instantly I felt the draining of the spells that I was keeping active.

 

The invisibility one was the costlier one, constantly draining my energy to be kept active. The illusion of the door was negligible, felt like a very small part of my energy was kept in reserve for it and it had some sort of timer for it. Probably until dawn.

 

So, at least I discovered something more about me, I guess. Now I had to play resource management, fun.

 

Not.

 

“Everything’s good? You suddenly slumped.” Match’s voice dragged me out of my head and I simply nodded, before pointing towards a clothing store, not wanting to fill our backpacks with food and then smothering it under t-shirts, jeans and so on.

 

I repeated the spells, starting with the alarm one, before we entered. This time, it was a bit harder to shop, seeing as we had to check the size of the various things we took, guessing the size for Roy and then folding them in a way that didn’t take too much space in the backpacks.

 

After that, we did the same in a snack bar, starting with the essentials – water bottles, bread, some meat and what small selection of greens there was – before moving to the superfluous – chocolate, cookies, soda, candy, chips and other unhealthy things.

 

Then we moved away from it, backpacks on Match’s shoulder and we went to find Roy.

 

We were ready to embark on our train adventure.

 

In the hope that no one from the JLA found us. Or from the Light. Or…

 

In the hope that no one from anywhere found us.


	8. Chapter 8: The chapter where we emulate hobos and we travel in a train illegally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talking chapter. Bad decisions has been had.

We had finally completed our preparations for our travel: we had food, clothes, water, and backpacks. Sadly, we didn’t manage to get some sleeping bags or something like that, but we couldn’t have everything easy.

 

Also, it was a relatively minor thing, after all. We managed to return to the place where we started, then I dropped the invisibility spell and relaxed. This whole thing had used up a lot of my energy and it was only thanks to the fact that I had Roy’s soul to replenish it – at least until I stumbled on the whole resolution of the deal thing – that allowed me to last until now. But now…

 

I was feeling sleepy. Moreover, I could  _ feel _ the sleep right around the corner, my eyelids fighting every moment to stay open. The adrenaline helped to keep me awake, but I knew, I could feel that it was just a moment of respite from it. My body, this young, too young body, wasn’t helping me.

 

Not. A. Bit.

 

“Oh, here you are. I couldn’t find you. Did you manage to-” Roy appeared from the crowd, moving to us from basically nowhere. I would have almost jumped if it wasn’t for the fact that I was still in Match’s arms.

 

“Oh, Roy! Yeah, we managed to find everything. Here’s your backpack!” And he handed him the Green Arrow one, a smile on his face. Roy’s face, on the other hand, twitched, a vein over his eye clearly visible, and his face started to flush red.

 

Then, he took a deep, deep breath, exhaling slowly. I could hear the faint sound of him counting, “8… 9… 10… 11… 12...”

 

It was only after he had concluded the exercise that he nodded, took the backpack and looked at us again. “We are somewhat lucky. I found the train. It’s a cargo for Queen Industries – shut up, I know, almost too lucky – and I think I know how to enter it without causing too much fuss. The only problem is, there are guards around it. And cameras.”

 

Well, that was a problem. A rather big one, actually.

 

“The cameras have blind spots and we can use them to reach the train. The guards are the problem. Any ideas?”

 

Roy clearly had ideas. A lot of them. But he didn’t seem to want to share them. Whether it was because he wasn’t sure of them, because his morality forbade him, or because he was starting to have the whole situation press on him, he was waiting for us.

 

This was… well, a problematic thing. Because, when I am sleepy, really sleepy, I get my usual ideas, but without the filter to NOT say them. And so, I spoke.

 

“To distract the guards, something they will fall for,

We’ll be teenage hooligans and rob the jewelry store.”

 

Silence.

 

See? No filter at all. I could have suggested something else like a firecracker, a small fire, a fake call, flying over them, something like that. And I went straight for the criminal option.

 

And the most self-serving one, let’s be real. I really like gems and I like gold, too. I like platinum more than gold, actually, but I wasn’t going to be picky.

 

So, yes, I had no intention of returning what we would steal, if we went for this idea. Mainly because I think I can create a focus for my magic, something that I could use to lower my energy requirements.

 

It was an idea, but it had merit.

 

“Hey, that could work!” Match was the first to react to that absurdity, making Roy look at him like he was crazy.

 

“I’m sorry? Didn’t we decide to be heroes? When did we turn that around and leap on the other side of the slope?”

 

Okay, first, we didn’t decide to be heroes. I mean, it was kind of a given, seeing the whole thing with helping him contacting his mentor that was also part of the Justice League, but that wasn’t us saying that we would be some sort of super team. Second, I hardly think that a single, mostly for show, store robbery could be considered jumping off the slippery slope and straight down into the Abyss so deep that we would land in its eye.

 

“C’mon Roy! It’s a great idea! And Green Arrow can simply pay the cost!” Match was smiling, which was pretty unfair. I mean, he was basically a teenaged Superman – even with his eyes – and Roy was conditioned by the fact that he lived in this world to associate ‘Superman’ with ‘Right Thing To Do’.

 

And, also, the fact that he could use Puppy Eyes and the whole tragic backstory. Not that he was using them right now, but they were a possibility. Hypothetically.

 

And no, I wasn’t thinking on how I could convince Match to use these things to his (my) benefit and amusement. On another, completely unrelated note, I was starting to wonder if I would be more suited to being a supervillain instead of a superhero.

 

Then I realized that I was far too nervous to be one and I had absolutely no idea where to fence stolen objects, not to mention minion management, traitors, and trying to build a rep while being gay and a child.

 

I mean, why some people think that just because I prefer guys I am less of a danger? I wasn’t a fighter in the slightest, but I had absolutely no qualms at using poison or other methods. And I was an  **excellent** baker.

 

Holy frag, I’m tired. I’m rambling way too much.

 

“I can’t believe I’m seriously thinking of this. I literally cannot believe it. And yet… Ok, IF we are doing this, how would you do it? Unless you convince me that you have a foolproof plan to go there, steal whatever and then escape without anyone catching you or recognizing you, the whole thing is off and we do something less criminal. Like, I dunno, light a fire in the bathroom,” Roy rambled, pointing at Match with his finger.

 

To that, the superpowered teenager simply shrugged and started to talk casually. “We go towards the front glass window, I smash it with a rock or a brick, I grab some of what is in it and then run. Fast. After that, I get out of the station and fly out here, moving out of the building.”

 

That was strangely easy. How the hell did he manage to… well, I didn’t really care. Still, something to keep an eye to.

 

If I remembered. Also, because I would forget otherwise…

 

“When you’re there, grab diamonds and gold.

A focus I want and with that, such I can mould.”

 

I yawned after that, blinking fast to try to keep my eyes open, but I was managing less and less.

 

Then, because it struck me all of sudden and I had manners…

 

“Right, I almost forgot: before going free,

What I asked, can you please get it for me?”

 

I actually asked, trying to make my version of Puppy Eyes at him.

 

“Alex!”

 

“Ok.”

 

“Match!”

 

“What? He said please!”

 

“That doesn’t mean that you do whatever he ask of you!”

 

“Why not? If he’s asking, I assume he has a good reason!”

 

Not true, in principle. I’m an extreme pragmatist – i.e., an opportunist – but I’m also keenly aware of the debt between me and the others. So yes, I would ask him a lot of small, mostly inconsequential favors that would cause him annoyance, but actually don’t ask for big things.

 

“All the same, if someone asks you to commit a crime, you say no!”

 

“Isn’t vigilantism a crime?”

 

“What does it have to do with what we’re talking about?!”

 

“I mean, all heroes are technically guilty of that, no?”

 

“The Justice League is a recognized organization! And that it’s not the point now! We’re talking about committing crimes, not preventing them!”

 

“Yeah, but he said that he wanted to use it to create a focus. I’m assuming he’s talking for his magic.”

 

I always thought that they would shout. Instead they were pretty calm. Curious. Even if some words were definitely spoken in some sort of shout-talk. No, I have no idea what the hell that meant and how it was even a thing.

 

“All the same, crime shouldn’t be your first idea!”

 

“But we are already planning a crime!”

 

“No, we are planning a distraction!”

 

“A distraction that is a crime, though. Also, the distraction is to enable another crime. Which is actually a less severe crime than the distraction itself.”

 

Checkmate.

 

“I.. You… What are you...” Roy seemed to have reached an overload, his words jumbling together and not a coherent sentence coming out of his mouth. In the end he let his head fall in his hand.

 

“I admit it, you’re right. Go and commit a crime while we sneak on the train once the guards are distracted.”

 

I felt almost bad for him. On the other hand, gold and jewels.

 

Eh, fifty/fifty.

 

Strangely, Roy was becoming farther and farther from me, like I was floating away…

 

“Match.”

 

“Yes Roy?”

 

“Leave Alex with me.”

 

“Oh. Right. I forgot. Eheh.” He laughed sheepishly, before floating back to the redhead, putting me on the ground and straightening up again. Whoa, being on the ground again was strange after all this time spent in his arms.Also, pins and needles. In both my legs. It was kind of a funny feeling, but also a bit annoying. Eh, whatever.

 

I stifled a yawn, before waving goodbye to Match and turning to Roy, who was looking at me with a calculating look on his face, before he smiled.

 

“Everything’s okay?”

 

I nodded at him, before covering another yawn, and looked at the trains.

 

“I’m so tired that it’s starting to ache

This body is not used to being awake.”

 

“Makes sense. Let’s move, then. If we get in position now, we can reach the train faster and you’ll get to sleep earlier.” Roy started to walk, dragging me behind him.

 

We walked towards the tracks, reaching them after a minute at most, right when an alarm started ringing from the inside the station. The guards all turned towards the station, but they didn’t move towards the inside.

 

Drat.

 

Me and Roy looked at each other, a flood of adrenaline making my sleepiness go away in an instant, unsure on what to do. I could use magic to send all of them to sleep, but… cameras. And a group of guards all falling asleep together was really suspect.

 

Then one of the guards’ radios crackled to life, a male voice, almost panicking, coming from it, *To all units on the place, we have a robbery at the Jewelry! A young meta is running away and we need reinforcements!*

 

Welp.

 

Apparently Match changed the plan after hearing that the guards here didn’t move. Superhearing, I forgot.

 

The guards around the train looked at each other, before nodding. Almost all, except two, started to run towards the place from where the call came. Apparently there was only one jewelry store in all the Train Station. Good to know.

 

Roy looked at me, then at the guard and seemed to stop thinking for a second. Then, he nodded, grabbed a rock and threw it on the other side of the train, someway making it bounce thrice and making the metal clangs sound like someone was trying to sneak beyond them.I have no idea how he did it. That’s Green Arrow’s sidekick for you, I guess.

 

The two guards stilled, before turning towards the sound and splitting, going towards the sound from two different sides in a sort of pincer maneuver. Smart, but kind of… pointless, seeing as we were starting to move from the other side.

 

The path we took was twisting, with Roy carrying two backpacks and I dragging only mine behind, moving in between trains and the columns in very specific intervals, until we reached the cargo train we were aiming for.

 

There, Roy quickly entered a code, before entering a second one and then a third, under my incredulous eyes, my eyebrows rising more with every code he inserted in the pad next to the door of the carriage.

 

He turned towards my direction when the door clicked open, a satisfied look on his face that morphed into a defensive one once he saw me.

 

“What? Ol-Green Arrow didn’t change the codes for entering, nor the other two to avoid the flag for the first code to be used. Or the third to avoid the flag of the second one. Stop looking at me like that.”

 

He moved past me with all the dignity of a honor-offended teenager. Which isn’t much.

 

I remained there for a second, slightly swaying on my feet, while thinking if he was ridiculous, really ridiculous or actually he had a point, before he grabbed me by my collar and dragged me inside, closing the door after a moment.

 

I stood there, trying to see in the dark, before I decided to avoid the whole problem to see if I had some light, so I opened a palm and casted again.

 

_ “Sphere of magic, shining white _

_ Now appear and shed some light.” _

 

Instantly, a sphere the size of Match’s closed hand appeared over my outstretched palm, shining bright enough to let us see, but not so strong that would be seen from the outside. Thankfully, the cost was really low. Basically a single drop of light from the sea inside me. After that, I started looking around to see what was inside the wagon.

 

Crates. A lot of crates, with the symbol of Queen Industries on it. Luckily, there was some space in the middle of the floor to let us sit and even lie down. Useful.

 

We were really having the luck of the devil tonight. Not that I was complaining.

 

“And now the worst part of every mission: The Wait,” Roy spoke, sitting down on the floor, his back against a crate and with one leg extended, while the other was used as a support for his arm.

 

I sat down in front of him, almost the same position, except for the leg, mine were both extended.

 

And then, we waited.

 

I spent my time thinking on what could have been happening outside the wagon: Match had been caught. Match had attracted the attention of the League. Match had caught the attention of  _ Superman _ . Match had caught the attention of  **Batman** and now he was on his way towards Gotham where he would be adopted by him and turned in the next Robin. Then the two of them would also adopt Superboy and make them a crimefighting duo.

 

Or I was simply paranoid and letting my mind wander a bit much.

 

Probably the last option, really.

 

I let the sphere of light move around us in an orbit, using the central point between me and Roy as a pin. Then, just for fun, I started to let the sphere dim and glow on a pattern, like a waltzer: dim-glow-glow, dim-glow-glow, dim-glow… glow…

 

******************************************

 

What woke me up wasn’t the vibration of the wagon or the breaths of the person behind me. No, it was the click-click that came from somewhere in the room I was sleeping.

 

Wait a second. Sleeping? When did I fall asleep last night? I remember the ball of light and the… oh.

 

My adrenaline probably crashed while I was controlling the sphere of light and I fell asleep.

 

I was getting kind of tired of this continuous falling asleep out of the blue thing that was happening. And the fainting. Especially the fainting.

 

I stretched myself, noticing that I was inside a sleeping bag – one of the three we had stolen from the train station store – and that Match was sleeping right behind me, in his sleeping bag. In front of me, Roy was tapping on his artificial arm, the liquid screen-like surface showing several images.

 

I yawned, barely managing to cover my mouth in time, attracting Roy’s attention.

 

“Morning.”

 

Light was shining in the wagon from somewhere I couldn’t see. With a quick check, I found that, apparently, there were windows in here, they were just too covered by the crates to let in the little light that was there the night before.

 

“Good morning to you, too.

What are you trying to do?”

 

“Trying to see what this thing can do.” He waved his new arm, showing a Google homepage on it. “It has a lot of features, but activating them is kind of difficult. For example, I have a lighter in my thumb, I can use the surface as a computer screen with keyboard – even if it’s pretty unwieldy – and I have internet. Plus, I can project a laser pointer from anywhere, but controlling it is really difficult. Either I project it from the fingers or...”

 

And his entire arm light up like a discoball, laser-like lights lighting up the inside of the car with every color of the spectrum. The lightshow lasted for a few seconds, before it disappeared as abruptly as it had started.

 

I was left blinking out the spots that the whole thing had left in my vision.

 

“Yeah, that. I’m pretty sure there are some other functions, but I cannot, for the life of me, understand what they are or how to access them.”

 

“You’ll discover them, I assume.

Knowing us, with a big boom.”

 

That made him crack a smirk, before he looked at Match and his expression turned sour. I cocked my head in question, still a bit sleep-addled, humming a questioning noise.

 

“Match is still sleeping.” I turned towards the black-haired boy, seeing that he was, in fact, still sleeping, even with the lightshow earlier, snuggling into his sleeping bag and cuddling… was that a Superman plushie?

 

I turned towards Roy, even more interrogative than before. I didn’t see him take the plushie.

 

On second thought, superspeed.

 

“He apparently managed to break the glass, that triggered the alarm. When he saw that the guards weren’t coming, he  _ also _ broke down the whole wall, grabbed a couple handful of assorted jewels, and hightailed it.” Roy sighed, his head hanging down. “And then he reached the train moments after it started moving, so I had to open the door and let him in. Then we slept.”

 

And he waved his hand towards the small pile of jewelry sitting on the floor of the train, against one of the crates.

 

“I can’t believe that I accepted the robbery of a jewelry store as a distraction. What the hell did I think? I must’ve been sleep-addled or something to accept it as a valid idea.”

 

Oook. Apparently Roy.Exe caught an unforeseen error and shut down. Better let him… work through the issue… alone.

 

Yep. Nodding to myself, I moved towards the pile of jewels on all four, before sitting in front of them and looking what Match got.

 

It didn’t take much time, they were pretty much either gold necklaces inlaid with diamonds, plain silver and gold rings, or diamond studded rings or bracelets, again with diamonds.

 

Also, they all looked pretty simple, nothing really outstanding or design. Good.

 

I glanced at Roy, who was now hitting his head against the crate while murmuring something in a language I didn’t understand. Match had woken up and was looking at him with amusement in his eyes, mouthing along the words, like he was trying to memorize them.

 

I turned back towards the jewels and called up my magic.

 

_ “Gold in a circle, first twice, then thrice _

_ Link them together now, without device.” _

 

The whole thing rose up in the air, gold moving fluidly and separating from the gems. Then, it moved into the shape I wanted them, forming three concentrical circles, before some more gold linked them together, before simply… vanishing, apparently leaving the three rings unconnected. I kept going, even if both Roy and Match had turned towards me.

 

_ “Make third a disk, with starburst printed, _

_ an hourglass fit inside, the sand gold tinted.” _

 

Slowly, the third ring claimed a bit more gold from the surroundings, before stretching out in a disk, small starburst patterns imprinting on it. A few diamonds floated up, stretching into the shape I had in mind, the gold moving to accommodate the hourglass. More gold vanished inside, turning into sand.

 

“Alex, what are you doing?”

 

“Whoa!”

 

_ “And to conclude the sorcerous trick _

_ On the border inscribe this, quick: _

_ I mark the hours, every one _

_ Nor I have yet outrun the sun _

_ My use and value unto you _

_ Are gauged by what you have to do.” _

 

The words got carved into the border of the first and second ring, in black cursive script. At the end, a chain formed from the remaining gold and linked the whole thing into a proper necklace.

 

“Alex, what did you do?” Roy seemed to be pretty angry by what I just did, but I could feel that what I had in my hand was a good focus. It  _ thrummed _ with my magic, almost pulsing.

 

“Too much power was being spent.

With this one, the loss I will prevent.”

 

I waved the time turner towards them, before clipping the chain behind my neck and trying to see if I had managed to get all the details correctly. Apparently yes.

 

Everything was exactly how I remembered. Good. Now, about the diamonds on the floor… well, I had to find a use for them, didn’t I?

 

“Oh, no, you don’t! I remember that smile and it’s not a good thing! Whatever your thinking of doing, forget it immediately!” Roy shouted, loud enough that Match startled, still dazed by his sudden wake up, blinking owlishly..

 

_ “Diamonds around, all together be rebuilt _

_ Form a smooth sphere, with my magic filled.” _

 

The diamonds that remained from my previous spell floated up, starting to move into a tight circle all together, while my new Time Turner was spinning madly, floating a bit in front of my chest.

 

Well, good news, the focus worked. And, to put the final icing on the cake, the diamonds concluded melding together, forming a sphere that was more or less five inches across, perfectly smooth and transparent.

 

And yet, once it had concluded the formation and had fallen on the ground, it was clearly made of diamond, at least based on the fact that the steel where it had landed had been scratched and the sphere… hadn’t.

 

“Wha-what did Iiii….. miss?” Match asked, yawning and rubbing the remnants of sleep from his eyes, causing Roy to facepalm. Again.


	9. Chapter 9: Travel stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things... kind of start, but not really. Another talking chapter.

“Ok, so, what did we learn?” Match asked, breathing softly onto a handkerchief, a stream of white, icy vapour covering it.

 

“That Alex cannot be left alone for a single moment, on pain of injury? Ow!” Roy’s sarcastic reply would be a lot more scathing if it wasn’t for the black eye that he was currently sporting. The injury got covered by the frozen handkerchief, making the redhead shiver.

 

“And that he shouldn’t experiment anymore. Ever.”

 

Now, that’s just unreasonable. How could I expect that the sphere I created with the remaining diamonds and filled with magic would start flying all of sudden?

 

………….

 

On second thought... 

 

“I was trying to create a scrying tool,

not a floating, moving, attack jewel.”

 

Which… was basically what it was. The diamond sphere simply floated there, over my head, orbiting it like a halo.

 

I could control it mentally, no words required, and it reacted as soon as I could think of it. It was like moving another part of my body.

 

The fact that I was trying to create something to use as a crystal ball wasn’t factored in, apparently. Although…

 

I brought the ball over my palm, before focusing.

 

_ “Diamond ball, floating free _

_ Show me who I want to see.” _

 

The diamond started to shine, all the colors of the rainbow coruscating around it, before it projected an image on the nearest crate.

 

“What the… “

 

”Didn’t I tell you to STOP EXPERIMENTING?!”

 

I nodded, but I was more focused on the image; Superboy and Wally were doing… something… at Wally’s house – if I remembered correctly – but the image was pretty fuzzy.

 

“Well, I’ll be damned. You can look around the planet without anyone trying to stop you. Exactly what we needed.” Roy’s voice was pretty sarcastic, so I turned to him and waved towards the ball.

 

“What?” I arched my eyebrow, before Match intervened.

 

“I think he is asking to choose who to look for.” I nodded, waving again towards the ball and cutting the image that was projecting.

 

Roy blinked for a moment, before cocking his head to the side. “Mmhhh… Green Arrow.”

 

I should have expected that.

 

_ “Diamond ball, floating free _

_ Show me who I want to see.” _

 

This time the image was even fuzzier, only Green Arrow’s face was clear, the rest was completely obscured by static.

 

“Why this doesn’t work, I don’t know.

Something’s missing in this show.”

 

It was also rather costly in terms of energy. I mean, not as much as transforming the door was, but… maybe a tenth of it? No, less than that. But if I had to compare it to trying to see Superboy, this was definitely more costly.

 

Maybe familiarity played a role? My pretty extensive knowledge of D&D told me that the more familiar you were with your target, the better your divination would be. And I couldn’t see any reason why it would be wrong.

 

Beyond the fact that I knew the Laws of Magic that governed this specific part of the Multiverse only superficially, of course.

 

The image projected on the crate’s side turned, clearly talking to someone, before moving to… maybe greet somebody? And, after that… it cut out. Like something had taken a pair of scissors to the connection.

 

Mmhhhh….

 

Let’s not be completely unsafe, here. My time turner started to twist again, magic shining.

 

_ “My magic I call and to all, this I tell: _

_ No one can see us with a scrying spell.” _

 

A wave of magic washed over us, stopping the rant that Roy was starting and making Match shiver a bit.

 

“What did you do?” the black-haired clone asked, goosebumps raised on his arms, clearly trying to calm down, looking around.

 

“My scrying attempt was done for.

I had to avoid evening of the score.”

 

A couple of confused stares, before Roy blinked. “You mean, avoiding someone… ‘scrying’ on us?”

 

I nodded, looking at Match repeating to himself what I said, forehead scrunched in thought, before the snapping of fingers drew me attention back to Roy.

 

“So? Did someone find us?”

 

I stopped for a moment, probing the defense I had to throw up and… nothing. No attacks.

 

I shook my head at Roy, before pointing at the backpacks and then at my mouth. He rolled his eyes and threw me the Captain Marvel one, where I started digging for the food I had stashed there.

 

Let’s see; gummy bears, chocolate, soda, cans of lemonade, granola bars, assorted candy, more chocolate, spicy chips, more granola bars, dried fruits….

 

Mmmhh… ah-hah!

 

I took out the Nutella jar and a packet of dried apple slices, before starting dipping the latter in the former, while Roy was looking at me in horror and Match was digging through his own backpack and started copying me, his entire face lighting up when he took his first bite.

 

“Please, tell me that you didn’t take junk food only,” Roy basically begged, looking at his backpack in despair. I would have answered, but the chocolate was almost gluing my mouth together, so I simply shook my head and took out a granola bar and, after that, a bottle of water.

 

I wasn’t that out of control.

 

“Oh, thank god!” he exclaimed and he opened his backpack, taking out a granola bar and water, as I showed him earlier.

 

The food was good, I was hungry, and I used the time when my mouth was busy to think of a little problem. The creation of the sphere had drained part of my magic, a rather big part. And it wasn’t recharging as fast as I had hoped. So, the food.

 

Let’s see if it worked at recharging the magical batteries as it did the physical ones.

 

I emptied my pack of dried apples, closed the Nutella jar and put it away, before taking a bottle of soda and one of water. Then I drank both.

 

And, after that, I laid down on my sleeping bag, waiting and keeping my magic under control.

 

************************************

 

Well, food worked. More or less.

 

It did replenish my energy. All the same, some part of it… didn’t. Or, to be more specific, replenished so slowly that it was almost like it didn’t.

 

I was pretty sure that it was the part of my magic that filled the sphere.

 

Still, it did replenish, even if slowly, so… I just had to be careful with it and avoid creating more magical objects until I better understood how it worked.

 

That also brought into question why the Time Turner didn’t eat a piece of my magic to be created. Maybe because it wasn’t really a magical object, but just a focus for it? Of course, there was always the possibility that it had a part of my magic and I didn’t notice simply because I had created the two almost at the same time.

 

Ultimately, I didn’t have any way to discover the reason, so I let the whole thing go and thought about something else.

 

Match cleared his voice. “So...” A long pause followed the word, Match looking around. I was looking at him and Roy was in the process of doing push-ups. “What are we gonna do in these… three days? Or, well, two days and whatever hours?”

 

I shrugged, my expression clearly at a loss like his own, before turning towards Roy.

 

Who was still doing push-ups, his arms working in perfect concert with a steady rhythm of up-down-up-down without stopping.

 

“I’m not...” up-down “...your...” up-down “...babysitter.” up-down “Find...” up-down “...something...” up-down “...by yourself.” up-down-up-down-up-down…

 

I blinked after a moment, before turning towards Match and shrugging. I had no idea on what to do, except for one thing.

 

“As we have no cards to play a game

Maybe we could work on your name?”

 

Match looked almost instantly downcast, before nodding sullenly. “Yeah, I guess we should.”

 

And he stopped talking, not looking at me or Roy. I exchanged a glance with the archer, before arching an eyebrow. Roy stopped his training with a huff and sat, legs crossed, against a crate, looking at Match.

 

“Ok, ok. So, Match…. Uh...” He stopped, looking at him with the words caught in his throat, clearly unsure on what to say.

 

I gave him a look that was the equivalent of a: Really? All in caps, underlined and bolded, before clearing my throat.

 

“Are you sure you want to change name?

Match isn’t that bad of a moniker to claim.”

 

Not my best work, but it worked to break the tension, at least a bit.

 

“No, I know, it’s just… I already told you that that name makes me think of the lab. And I don’t want to think of the lab. Ever again.” He was still looking down, clearly not wanting to see any of us. If this was a book or a fanfiction, I’m pretty sure that he would be described with the words: “He didn’t want to see the pity on our faces.”

 

Lucky for him, we didn’t have any pity to offer for this particular matter, seeing as we were, same as him, escapees from the same lab.

 

“Ok, I get it. You are scared that if you lose that name, you will lose yourself. Your identity.” Match looked at Roy, before slowly nodding.

 

“Well, I can understand that. But you should think about Match more as a codename than a real name. Like Superboy. He only has that name, for now, but he will choose one later, won’t he?”

 

I nodded at him, before freezing. How could he know that?

 

“And, Alex? After this, we are going to  **talk** . About when you were going to tell me that in your dimension this is a cartoon.”

 

I nodded, meekly, before turning my eyes towards Match, who looked a lot more calm now. And smirking at me, the asshole.

 

“I said later. Match, as I said, just think of Match as a codename and create a new one. Let’s see if we can find something that fits you.” Roy stood there, one hand rubbing his chin, before nodding. “How about Mitch? Mitchell? Michael? Matthew?”

 

“Uh….” He didn’t seem convinced. So I gave him a couple more of options. Out of the goodness of my heart. 

 

Really. 

 

So, I took a deep breath and started talking, without stopping.

 

“How about Darnell or Miguel?

Or Manuel. There is Marcell.

There is Andy or Randy, Dan and Stan.

Danny, Manny, Barry, Gary, Harry, Jerry

Ben, Glen, Ken and Len,

Benny, Denny, Kenny, Lenny

Then Luis, Maurice and Reese.

Bill, Will, Phil, Willy…

Bert, Kurt and Billy.

Bo, Joe, Moe, Bob and Rob

Also Bobby and Robbie.

Donnie, Johnny, Ronnie and Boris

That rhymes with Horace and Morris.

Braden, Hayden and Jaden,

Brandon goes with Landon,

Brynn, Flynn and Lynn.

Brody and Cody. Then Dean

Goes together with Eugene…

If all of this leaves you sore

I’ve got many,  _ many _ more...”

 

Before I could continue my list, Match threw himself at me, squashing me with his body and using both hands to stop me from saying more. Roy, in the meantime, was having a crisis of laughter, hugging his ribs and trying to say something, but, apparently, not having enough air to speak.

 

“Ok, ok, I got it! Stop rhyming names, each one is one worse than the last!”

 

I smirked behind his hands, eyes twinkling devilishly. He eyed me, a stern look on his face, before,  _ slowly _ , removing his hands.

 

I took a deep breath, ready to start once again, before he blocked my mouth without letting me speak a single word.

 

“Matthew. Matthew is perfect. Understood, you spawn of satan?”

 

I nodded – tried to, at least – and he removed his hands, leaving me free to talk again. I didn’t say anything, while Roy was slowly recovering his breath.

 

“Are you sure that name you want to lock?

Because I have many more names in stock…”

 

Matc-Matthew let out a yell of desperation and anguish, turning and falling down on his sleeping bag, face down, and screaming in it.

 

That sent Roy back into a fit of laughter, soon joined by me and, after a few moments, by Matthew, too.

 

*******************************************

 

“Ok, stop me if I’m wrong somewhere,” Roy spoke, while night was starting to cover this part of the world. We had already passed three different stations, where the train stopped for some reasons – changing the driver, maybe? – and I managed to delay the conversation until now.

 

Now was, in fact, the time to go to bed. But Roy wanted answers and answer he would get. By hook or by crook. So I lit up my Diamond Ball and talked. Until I managed, somewhat, to explain everything while speaking in rhyme.

 

It was kind of very strange to hear the whole thing about Young Justice in poem form.

 

“You are from a dimension where this dimension is a cartoon. And you wrote fanfiction about this world. Then, after you stopped writing because you wrote yourself into a corner, you went out to buy something, thinking about writing something else, slipped and a bus killed you. Then your soul got grabbed by Klarion – a freaking Lord of Chaos – and stuffed into a body that was a mix between Etrigan – you think – and Zatara – and you aren’t sure which one – to make it actually work. After that you contacted me and the rest is history.” He had to stop and breathe, before he could go on.

 

“After that, you didn’t say anything, which is understandable, but you were  _ also _ unaware that the spell you created on the spot to talk mentally with me had granted me a limited access to your memories. Or, better, let you send me your memories and allowed me to read it. Which you did, albeit not voluntarily. Until now it’s all correct?”

 

I nodded. I also promised to myself to rewrite the mind-talk spell because I  **didn’t** need anyone I was trying to talk to have my entire life exposed in front of him. And Roy even said that he was able to hear my mental rambling when I wasn’t trying to send him anything.

 

“But if you knew everything,

Why didn’t you say anything?”

 

“We were trying to escape from a secret lab controlled by mad scientists. Why would I say something in that situation? I know how to prioritize.” Roy glanced at me, a strange look on his face. I simply nodded at that, accepting his explanation and making a gesture for him to go ahead with his monologue.

 

He used the moment to breathe and, apparently, make a mental recount of what he had said until now.

 

“Ok, that covers the ground up to now. The real question is, what are we gonna do now?” The fact that Roy had said ‘we’ and had gestured to me and Matthew was a good thing, so I raised my hand and started explaining my plan.

 

“What we do is something I thought ahead:

We form a team under Green Arrow’s lead.”

 

Roy shook his head almost instantly. “Won’t work. Green Arrow may seem like an idiot – and he is, a bit – but he is loyal to the JLA and he wouldn’t go behind their back like that.”

 

That… made an alarming amount of sense.

 

“Is it possible that would he go for our plan

If he could keep it a secret from Batman?”

 

The question was valid. I think. But judging by the way that Roy was thinking, I guessed that it wasn’t so cut and dry as I had hoped.

 

“I don’t think so. While it is true that he and Batman don’t exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things, they still are part of the JLA. He would probably tell us that he would keep it secret and then go tell him once we are sleeping… if he doesn’t drug us himself.”

 

Yikes.

 

“We could simply tell him the truth?” Matthew said, munching on a bag of chips. His suggestion was simple but it didn’t really cover the various questions he could ask. Like the demonstrations that Roy was really Roy and not a clone and why should the other Roy being a clone? After all, he had spent the most time near Green Arrow, while the original Roy had only spent a few months.

 

True, we could contact the newly named Red Arrow first, but he would be even more confrontational.

 

“We could,” Roy said, attracting my attention. He didn’t look particularly convinced. “The problem lies in the fact that we don’t know how he will react to it. We don’t have any real proof that we are who we are saying we are and with the existence of clones now revealed to them… Plus my arm..”

 

“But… then, why are we going to him?” Matthew’s question was pretty spot on. Roy sighed at that, clearly not sure how to answer that. To be fair, neither was I.

 

“Because… because I can’t think of anything else, Alex can’t think of anything else and we are literally improvising everything. I’m pretty sure that it will end with us either in a jail cell or on the run from the JLA. And I will probably end up a vigilante.”

 

That was a bit of a non-sequitur, but okay. Roy snorted at the expression on my and Matthew’s faces.

 

“I didn’t want to be Green Arrow’s partner just because I thought he was cool, you know? I wanted to be a hero then and I want to be a hero now. I’ll just have to… think of another name.”

 

Apparently he was already resigned. I thought that it was a bit premature, but ok.

 

“Oh, hey, we could create a new, independent hero team? Just the three of us?” Matthew lit up with that suggestion, attracting the attention of us both.

 

A new hero team… mhmmhhh….

 

“Just the three of us? Well… I mean… We don’t have the resources. Or a base. But... ” Matthew, who had started to look more and more downcast, perked up at the last word. “...I mean, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility. It would be difficult, very difficult. But it could be done, that is true...”

 

In the end Roy stood there, thinking over our options.

 

As for me, I was starting to think that, maybe, escaping from the Justice League was… not exactly a smart move. I mean, why did I not want to meet them?

 

Thinking back on it, I couldn’t pinpoint a moment where I could say: Yes, that is the reason! That reason right there is why we need to escape from them!

 

It’s more…. it was some kind of logical train of thought: I wake up in Cadmus Lab -> I discover the Original Roy in Cadmus Lab - > I discover I’m in an S.I. situation -> I help Roy -> We help Matthew -> We escape from Cadmus Lab -> League is present -> I remember how Superman treated Conner -> Match is scared of the outside world -> Roy empathize with him, cause clone situation -> It’s better to not aggravate them -> Better not meet the JLA -> Escape the JLA -> Meet with one of the JLA and explain situation -> Go to Green Arrow due to Roy.

 

Yeah, no, it was definitely flawed as far as thinking went. I didn’t realize it, though. At the time, I was still not completely firing on all cylinders, so to speak. I wonder how hard the theft of the jewels will come back to bit us in the ass later.

 

Knowing my luck, it will happen in the worst possible situation, at the worst possible moment.

 

“Look, let’s table this discussion for tomorrow. It’s getting pretty late.” Roy nodded and we – after I managed a couple of cleaning spells – went to sleep.

 

************************

 

The Morning After…

 

“Ok. We are, more or less, halfway there. The train will stop at Fawcett City to change drivers and a check-up of various parts of the train in a few minutes. We can, if we are stealthy enough,” and here he looked at me, “take a few minutes to move our legs outside. The train will be here for an hour, at least.”

 

Both Matthew and I nodded, my mind already on the spell I would need to use on all of us to avoid detection. My reserves were… well, I managed to recover some of the energy I invested in the sphere, so it was good. Far off from my maximum, though.

 

The train slowly crawled to a stop at the station, before the whole car rocked on the tracks, the sound of an explosion coming from the outside.

 

“What the hell?!”


	10. Chapter 10: Welcome to Halloween!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, a bit of action start. And, uh... well, forget canon.

The train car rocked back and forth, the crates screeching against the metal floor, the sound so grating that all of us had to cover our ears.

 

Then. another explosion occurred, this time strong enough to derail the train , the various crates around us almost flying around. The fact that we were sitting in the middle of them was, obviously, a problem.

 

The strangled scream that almost escaped my mouth stopped instantly when Matthew blocked the various crates that were coming towards us by simply flying in between me and Roy and starfishing, using his body to stop the various cargo coming towards us.

 

We managed to end up just a little crumpled, me and Roy crouched under Matthew as he kept three crates away enough that it didn’t hurt us more than the initial movement did.

 

“Everything okay? Those things are pretty heavy,” the Kryptonian asked, smirking from above us, his breath a bit heavier than normal due to adrenaline. I nodded at his question, while Roy cursed.

 

Loudly.

 

“What the hell just happened?! Why did the train all of a sudden start dancing a jig and why the hell are bombs exploding near it?!”

 

“Because someone set them off, duh.” Matthew’s comment was as appreciated as it was helpful, at least judging by the way Roy glared at him and stomped towards the door of the train car, before stopping right in front of it.

 

“Fuck it, the crates are already half destroyed. Alex, magic me a bow and some arrows. I’m gonna have  _ words _ with whoever is setting off bombs in a train station.”

 

Well, he didn’t seem like he was going to relax any time soon and the crates were made of wood… for some reason… so…

 

I concentrated, my hands cupping my Time Turner, before speaking, magic making it spin on itself.

 

_ “I don’t care with what or how _

_ But turn this wood into a bow. _

_ And to not be without arrow aplenty _

_ Create some, a lot more than twenty.” _

 

A purple beam of energy sparkled around the fragmented remains of a crate, making them whirl around until they fused together into a bow. I had no idea what kind of bow, but it was a bow and it was, presumably, functional by the way Roy snorted at it, but nodded. After that, what remained of the crate turned into stacks of arrows, all neatly lined up next to the bow.

 

Also, the bow had a string. Somehow. I’d guess it was a fundamental part of it being a bow. A bow without a string was just a weirdly shaped club.

 

“Well, it’s not the best, but as a stop gap it should work. Let me see if it does...” He picked it up along with several arrows, before nocking one, drawing the string and shooting it at the other side of the train car, hitting the center of the Queen Industries logo.

 

“Not completely useless, but my aim is a bit off. I need to train back to my top form. Let’s hope it will be enough for whoever it’s outside.”

 

And he tried to punch in the code to unlock the door, but found that the whole thing was busted. It only sparked every now and then, the pad clearly not working.

 

“Dammit!” He punched the door with the metal arm, leaving a pretty noticeable dent in it. That prompted him to look at his metal hand like it was the first time he saw it.

 

“Well, that’s new.”

 

Then, another explosion rocked the entire train, making it tilt dangerously to the side, this time with several screams that were pretty audible even over the sound of metal tearing apart.

 

“Shit! Match!”

 

“On it!

 

Matthew flew straight towards the wall, pushing in the opposite direction to where it was tilting and, with the sound of straining steel, it settled back onto the tracks with a crash.

 

I had to cover my ears due to how loud the sound was.

 

“Damn… it... I can’t… open… this… fucking door!!” Roy, in the meantime, was struggling against the door and trying to open it, but it seemed that, while the new arm was, in fact, way more resistant than his normal flesh and bone one, it didn’t give him, by any means, super-strength.

 

Matthew flew towards him, before grabbing the door – as in, his fingers dug into the metal of it – and yanking it open, letting the sunlight enter.

 

“Thanks.” Roy jumped out of the train without waiting a moment more, bow already nocked and eyes scanning around.

 

Matthew and I followed him, Matthew grabbing me and flying out of the train and stopping once we passed the door.

 

The situation outside was... nothing I’d ever expected, honestly.

 

First of all, the sky was rapidly clouding over, the train station right on the boundary between the darkness and the light. Then, the whole city looked a lot… well, like Gotham. Or, better yet,  Gothic .

 

The building had an overabundance of gargoyles, crude iron fences, overly decorated buildings, gas lamps, a dark mist on the cobblestone roads, pumpkins with lit candles in them around the gardens, and a big, full moon hanging in the sky, only revealed by a gap in the clouds covering the whole place. And, obviously, a giant gothic castle on the hill.

 

I glanced at the part not covered by the darkness to realize that, yes, it was still day. Morning, even.

 

“Oh? Lost lambs caught in a speeding train? Well, well, well, let me extend my welcome to Halloween Town!”

 

The voice came from the air, behind us. All of us turned, just to see a…

 

“My name’s Pumpkin Jack, one of the new rulers of this place. Now, what kind of monsters do you want to be?”

 

The teen was lanky and thin, dressed in a striped, white and black tuxedo, his head covered with a pumpkin with a carved grin, the inside emitting yellow light. In his hands, he carried small pumpkins that emitted an obnoxious green gas.

 

He was also flying using, guess what? A pumpkin.

 

Did I end up in Marvel all of a sudden? Weren’t pumpkins the Green Goblin’s shtick?

 

“Ah, of course! Judging by how you are simply staying there with your mouths open, you all will make excellent scarecrows!” And he threw the pumpkins in his hands, the orange projectiles smoking green and clearly dangerous.

 

“Nope.” Two arrows flew, intercepting the projectiles mid-air and making them explode into clouds of coloured gas.

 

“What?!” Pumpkin Jack moved backwards, like he didn’t expect someone to counterattack, face screwed in outrage. Roy was supremely unimpressed by his reaction.

 

“I have enough on my plate already with him,” he said as he pointed at me with his thumb, over his shoulder. Rude. “I don’t want anymore from anyone else.”

 

Pumpkin Jack looked affronted, the pumpkin on his head changing expressions, before turning into a menacing leer. “Very well, then. If you don’t want to be citizens of our new city, then you’ll invited to either get out...” In the middle of his speech, two other pumpkins materialized in his hands and he threw them at us, this time glowing with red gas.

 

Roy managed to shoot them out once again, but this time the projectiles exploded in a wave of force and flames, strong enough to push us back if it wasn’t for Matthew catching us.

 

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Jack cackled, flying away on his flying pumpkin, throwing a couple of green-spewing pumpkins at two railway guards, turning them into zombies. Halloween zombies.

 

“What the hell just happened?” Matthew looked at me with eyes absurdly wide, while Roy was snarling.

 

“Supervillain, that’s what happened! Well, Match, you have your wish granted, we are now an independent group of heroes. First mission? Save this damn city.”

 

He ducked inside the train to grab the other arrows I created, before putting them into a bandolier he fashioned from one of the shirts I had got for him. “Alex, find a codename for yourself now. Then we move in reconnaissance.”

 

Serious and focused. Roy was clearly meaning business.

 

“Seeing as we don’t have time

My codename will be Rhyme.”

 

“Sweet! We’re gonna be kickass!” Match almost shouted, pumping his fist and smiling at me and Roy, who answered with a grunt, still focused on his work. I smiled, the diamond ball orbiting around me a bit faster, my blood starting to pump faster.

 

“Yeah, we will. And, while on the job, call me Arsenal. Rhyme, get us masks. Leave the clothes, I don’t want you to use too much energy, we could need it later.” He tightened the makeshift strap and then started to adjust the bow.

 

I simply nodded, before focusing again, the time turner spinning around my neck.

 

_ “With concealing masks dress us all _

_ Do it quick and fast, without any stall.” _

 

From around us, materials lifted in flight and whirled around us for a few moments, fusing together and molding into what our masks would be.

 

On me, a full face  [ venetian mask ](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/713tMgT-TRL._UX385_.jpg) appeared, bone white on the chin and turning into a slight gold around my nose and upwards. Then, from above the eyes, five prongs of black material jutted out, curling at the ends, with bells hanging from the tips. The lips were mostly white, with the center colored in black and black lines decorated the surface of the mask with arabesques.

 

On Roy – Arsenal – a simple full black  [ domino ](https://partytimebr.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/image/800x800/e9c3970ab036de70892d86c6d221abfe/7/4/74602.jpg) mask, with the upper part at the corner of his eyes sweeping up into sharp arches that reminded me of a bow.

 

And, lastly, Match’s face was hidden by a silver  [ half-moon mask ](https://sc01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB18Sm1LpXXXXaGXXXX760XFXXXx/New-shelves-painted-side-half-face-masks.png_350x350.png) that covered the left side of his face, with a contour for his right eye coming from the middle of it. The border of the mask and the center of the lips were tinted black, with silver swirls in relief around the eye.

 

“I didn’t expect this.” Match’s voice was unchanged and the apparently delicate features of the mask were at odds with his whole build. On the other hand, his eyes did make the whole thing pretty menacing to see.

 

“As long as they stay on our faces and protect our identity, I’m ok with them. Let’s go.”

 

Arsenal started moving towards the station, an arrow ready and the bow aimed low, string held relaxed. Match shrugged, before grabbing me with his arm and flying behind him.

 

I let myself be transported, the diamond ball orbiting around my right hand.

 

******************************

 

Whoever or whatever had transformed this city had done a pretty good job. It was completely different from a modern town, with cobblestone streets lit with lanterns squeaking on hinges hanging from under the windows of the houses, sporadic gas lamps shining circles of yellow light on the mist below it.

 

We moved through back alleys that looked like the set of a horror film, the whole place silent as the grave, all the doors and the windows shut.

 

“Match, do you hear anything?” Arsenal asked, tense, eyes scanning the surroundings and arms twitching, ready to react at the minimum stimulus. One of the blinds of the window creaked open by an inch, before slamming shut again.

 

“Mmhh…. Breaths and heartbeats inside the houses, the smell of dust, dirt, and incense, a faint tang of blood, smog… screams. That way.” He pointed towards our right.

 

“Right, that does it. Take us there, now!” Arsenal commanded, turning towards the direction Match had pointed and starting to run. The clone simply grabbed him under the other arm and flew, fast.

 

Wind and mist whipped our faces, until we started to hear the screams: feminine, high-pitched and, most importantly,  _ young _ .

 

We reached a round plaza with what looked like a pyre in the middle, where a young girl – no older than thirteen – was bound to a pole, flames already burning at the edges.

 

What looked like a good dozen spectres stood all around her, white and translucent, while a more ornately dressed girl stood there cackling, chanting something.

 

She was wearing a long dress that pooled around her feet, long sleeves that would hide her hands if they weren’t raised, and jewelry: a necklace with a ruby pendant, several rings and golden hoop earrings.

 

“Match, the fire.”

 

“On it.”

 

With a scrunched forehead, Match inhaled and then exhaled a stream of frigid air right at the pyre, stopping the flames instantly and attracting the attention of the ghosts.

 

“Who dares interrupt Lady Geist’s recruitment?!” what seemed to be the head ghost screeched, waving her arm towards us. She looked a great deal more solid than the other ghosts, only barely translucent. Then an arrow appeared in her guts.

 

“Us.” Arsenal had literally shot first and talked later. He was already on the ground, another arrow already nocked and ready to go. “Release the girl.”

 

Lady Geist yelled, not in pain, but in rage, as the arrow simply slid from her and fell to the ground, her admittedly pretty features turning into a monstruos visage.

 

“Intruders! Kill them!!” Well, she didn’t mince words, either, it seemed. The ghosts around the pyre rose into a hover, armor and spears appearing on them, their eyes turning from milky white to red, a black aura surrounding them.

 

“Hard way it is. Match, see if you can huff and puff them away.” Arsenal nodded to the advancing tide of enemies and I let myself down, landing on the ground and looking warily at them. The earlier arrow didn’t damage Lady Geist, so I was unsure if Match’s Freeze Breath would be enough.

 

Arsenal let a couple of arrows fly and they simply passed between the ghosts without causing any kind of damage, so there was that, too.

 

I had an idea on how to solve that problem. D&D to the rescue, once again. Fast, because the enemies were approaching and I didn’t want to discover if their spears were real enough to hurt us.

 

Even if, judging by the cackling from Lady Geist, they could.

 

While I worked on Arsenal’s weapon, Match tried his breath again. It… didn’t really work, just made the ‘clothes’ of the ghosts flutter around a bit and, maybe, slowed them a bit. A very tiny bit.

 

_ “With these ghosts so fierce, _

_ make his arrows them pierce.” _

 

A silver glow enveloped the arrows, before settling on the tips, shining like moonlight. It took less than what I thought from me, as far as energy costs went.

 

“I’m assuming that these arrows can now hit ghosts?” Arsenal didn’t really wait for my nod, he just nocked one, took aim and shot in a single movement, perfectly fluid.

 

The arrow hit the ghost and made a hole the size of a bowling ball, straight in the middle of its chest. In front of our very eyes, the spectre wailed, high and keening, before vanishing into a swirl of mists.

 

Fun fact: the ghosts were anatomically correct. And now I want to puke.

 

“NO!! NOT MY GHOSTS!!”

 

Lady Geist seemed to be less than pleased with this development, making a sharp gesture with her hands, while glaring at us with malice-filled eyes.

 

All the ghosts vanished into a swirl of white, followed an instant later by her.

 

“Are you okay?” Match asked the girl, snapping the rough ropes that bound her to the stake driven in the middle of the pyre.

 

She simply shook her head, burying her face in his chest and crying, her entire body wracked by panic and probably cold. Then, one of the doors of the houses around the plaza slammed open and a woman ran out, followed closely by a man.

 

“Hillary! My Hillary!”

 

“MAMA!”

 

It was heartwarming to see the family reunited. The man couldn’t do anything but murmur reassurances in his wife and daughter’s hair, while the mother was thanking us nonstop.

 

“Aw, how sweet! The heroes managed to defeat the evil ghost-witch and saved the prisoner!”

 

The guttural voice came from the top of the roof of one of the houses. Standing there was another girl.

 

“It’s a shame that the three little morsels couldn’t know that Miss Moonshine was there to ruin their moment!”

 

She was tall. Statuesque, someone could say. Clearly muscled. And not for show, either, those were the muscles of someone who used them.

 

“Go!” Arsenal pushed the family away, back towards their home, while Match launched himself at her, fist already pulled back. She grinned, showing row after row of white teeth that glinted in the moonlight.

 

And then she jumped down, moments before Match could break her face. Her body twisted and shifted, wolf characteristics taking over her form, until she was a classic werewolf, standing on her two back legs, body covered in fur, muscles pumped up, sharp fangs and even sharper claws.

 

A low growl came out of her throat, before she turned and blocked the punch that Match tried to slam in her head, her arm straining to keep him steady.

 

That was bad.

 

“Shit!” An arrow flew straight towards her hand, but it only broke on her fur. Match’s eyes started shining red, but Moonshine breathed in and  _ howled _ , waves of sound erupting from her and slamming against Match first – sending him to his knees, eyes shut in pain and the other hand to his ears, the sound too much for his hearing.

 

I could see a trickle of blood coming from his ears.

 

“Rhyme! Do something!” Arsenal shouted, bending and riding out the waves of pressure that threatened to fling him away. As for me, I was holding onto the diamond ball in front of me, my feet basically off the cobblestones.

 

_ “From my anger, brilliant fire lash, _

_ Hit my target, turn it to ash.” _

 

I panicked.

 

Spheres of red-yellow flames appeared around me, like will’o’wisps, flying in a circle around my head, before shooting towards the werewolf, hitting her one after the other, burning brightly and singing her fur.

 

At least that was enough to make her lose her grip on Match with a yelp of surprise and pain, making the awful howling stop.

 

“Little shit...” her voice was still recognizably human, but extremely low and growling. “You’ll pay for that.”

 

Her eyes were shining red in fury, her whole posture screaming aggression, as she lowered herself down on the ground, getting ready to leap at me and, probably, rip me to shreds.

 

Then Match tackled her from behind, sending her flying to the other side of the plaza, crashing through a house and out the other side.

 

He was still wobbling, dry blood on his ears and at the side of his face, moving around like he was drunk. Arsenal grabbed me by my arm, before running towards Match. “Get us away from here!”

 

“WHAT?!” He shouted, before wincing in pain, his hands going to his ears, clearly regretting his shout.

 

Arsenal grabbed his arm and, after tugging it a couple of times, managed to move it around his waist, before gesturing towards the opposite direction from where Miss Moonshine has been sent. He lit up like a lightbulb, before grabbing me and wobbling upwards.

 

I glanced around, noticing that the family we had managed to save was hidden back inside their house and that the mound of rubble over the werewolf was starting to move. That made me widen my eyes, before slapping Match’s shoulder.

 

He turned to me, a puzzled expression on his face, before noticed my frantic pointing towards the wreckage of the house. It was starting to rise.

 

In the next moment we were on the other side of the town, inside what looked like an abandoned room, with Match panting from the dash he had made.

 

He had smashed the already broken window in his haste.

 

As for me and Arsenal, we were trying to blink the dust from our eyes, still stinging with tears due to the excessive speed he had used.

 

After that, Arsenal surveilled the room: bare brick walls in grey, dirty tile-covered floor, a bare mattress over a rusted metal frame, a chair and a desk made of old wood, cracked and splintered, and a metal door with only a peephole closed with a metal strip was inside.

 

With a closer look, we discovered that the spots on the floor were a rusted red, the metal frame of the bed had restraints attached to it and the door didn’t have a handle on the inside.

 

“If what I’m seeing is not fake and it’s true

We’re in the place where the insane were threw.”

 

“An asylum? Well, fits the bill. And it is in theme with the whole Halloween shtick that those nutjobs out there have going.” Arsenal moved towards the door and tried to jiggle it open.

 

It was closed, of course.

 

I noted all of this with a sort of detachment that was the prelude to hyperventilating, before Match jolted me out of my funk – and nearly caused a panic attack – by putting his hand on my shoulder and, when I had brought my racing heart back under control, pointed at his ears and then to me.

 

It took me a couple of seconds, before understanding hit me: he wanted me to heal him.

 

Only problem was that I never tried to heal anyone.

 

“Aren’t you jumping the gun?

I’ve never healed anyone.”

 

He nodded, solemn. What could I do? I started speaking.

 

_ “To let him fulfill his role _

_ Let his ears be whole!” _

 

Purple magic flew from my fingers and twisted around his head, before sinking into his ears and going to work. Unsurprisingly, it took much more energy that I thought, cutting my breath short for a moment.

 

At least I was lucky: I managed to heal Match.

 

“Ah, it’s good to...” he started saying, before stopping and acquiring a vaguely green tint to his face, one hand going to cover his mouth. Arsenal and I looked at him with curiosity clear on our faces.

 

“I’ve changed my mind. Can you make me deaf again?” he managed to mumble behind his hand, earning a scowl from Arsenal.

 

“Match, we need your hearing. What’s the problem?”

 

“I can hear… ugh... everything. That’s going on. Inside this place... And it’s really,  _ really _ bad.”

 

A high-pitched, pained scream tore the silence.


	11. Chapter 11: Whoops, my mistake. Welcome to Nightmare Halloween.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Horror here. Well, attempt at horror. Not sure how well did I manage it.

Everyone stiffened. The scream was high-pitched, clearly female, with a finish that sounded... a bit too liquid.

 

“Match, where did the scream come from?” Arsenal was at the door already, trying to see if there was a way to open the door from the inside. It didn’t look like he was having much success.

 

“Down, that way.” He pointed towards the floor, to the left of the door and in front of him. Seeing as we crashed through the window of the highest floor…

 

I tried to remember how many floors this asylum had, but I wasn’t sure if it had three or four… a jolt of pain made me flinch, it felt like a sharp spike had suddenly been jammed into my brain.

 

It took a couple of seconds to vanish, leaving only a nasty reminder behind in the shape of a throb on the back of my head.

 

Healing Match must have used more energy than I thought.

 

“I’m sorry to say this, but it really appears

I won’t be using magic until my head clears.”

 

“What? Oh, the healing, right? Yeah, ok. Focus on recovering, we may need your help earlier than I like,” Arsenal said to me, still focused on the door, before huffing.

 

Then, he just gestured at Match to move over to where he was and pointed at the door. “Open this for me.”

 

Match shrugged, still looking fairly green, before pushing the door open. The wood splintered loudly, while the shriek of torn metal echoed around us and did absolutely nothing to lessen my headache.

 

I glared at them; Match looked pretty sheepish, while Arsenal didn’t even give me a look, already moving out of the room.

 

The hallway was more or less what I expected: dirty, ominous, and littered with medical equipment that looked like it had seen a lot of use.

 

More doors littered the place, on both sides of the corridor, all locked from the outside. Some had boards nailed to them, some were chained closed, and yet more had bloody handprints on the side, like someone had tried to grab the edges to stay out.

 

“Match, can you hear anything from inside those rooms?” Arsenal waved his hand towards the horror scene that was in front of us, prompting the Kryptonian to close his eyes and focus.

 

We stood in silence, only a couple more screams making us wince, looking at him and awaiting his verdict.

 

“...one. This floor is almost empty, except for that one room at the end of the corridor.” He pointed towards the end, on the right side from the door we came out, towards the last room.

 

A quick jog – carefully, seeing as the floor near it was littered with old syringes stained with rust-colored spots – and we reached the door number 313.

 

It was made of steel, with bars locking it to the wall, three locks and a spyhole. Opening it showed a boy tied to the bed with heavy, black-iron manacles on his hands and feet, a small iron bar as a gag and leather belts fastened around his torso and waist.

 

His skin was unhealthily pale, his black hair was matted with sweat and filth, while his blue eyes were wet with tears, but they shone with determination, even if we could see that both his ankles and wrists were rubbed raw by the restraints.

 

“Match, the door.” Arsenal’s voice was cold as ice, clearly angry. Match’s expression matched that tone of voice, as he raised his fists and brought them down in an hammerblow against the metal of the door.

 

It didn’t made even a sound. The only thing that reacted was a strange red script that spiralled around the point of impact, before sinking back into the door.

 

“Magic.” Match’s comment caused Arsenal to swear, before pointing at the wall.

 

“Try the wall. Maybe it will work.” The black-haired male nodded, before punching the wall with what looked like his whole strength. It didn’t even made the plaster fall.

 

“It seems a game has been designed.

To enter, the keys we have to find.”

 

The expression on both of my teammate’s faces were something I doubt I’ll forget easily. They were furious.

 

“We don’t have the time to play this games! Rhyme, can you dismantle their magic?” I looked at Arsenal, before looking at the door and checking my energy reserves.

 

Then I shook my head.

 

“I cannot remove this magical noose

And still have the energy to be of use.”

 

“DAMN IT!” Arsenal slammed his artificial fist against the wall in front of the locked door with enough strength to make the whole wall rain plaster on the ground.

 

“Ok, new plan. We go down a floor to help the people being tortured and to free any other who might be trapped. Meanwhile, we search for the keys. We search this floor last, after we are done with the others. If we don’t find them, you’ll undo their magic even if it tires you out. With a bit of luck, we’ll be done with this insane asylum by then, so you can get a bit of rest without problem. Everyone clear with this?”

 

Both me and Match nodded, before he arranged us with Match in front, me in the middle and him at the back, all walking in single file.

 

The rest of the floor was unnerving, the hallway was long enough to host at least five doors on each side from where we were, with our initial entrance being around halfway. At far side of the rooms, there was an intersection leading to three more hallways: left, right, and in front of us.

 

Arsenal stopped for a moment, licking his finger on the flesh arm, before raising it and focusing on something. “Match, to our left there is a faint air flow. Can you feel that?”

 

“Yeah. But it’s really faint. There aren’t all that many openings in this place, everything is blocked or barred. Also...” he stopped talking for a moment, unsure on what to say, eyes looking around. “My x-ray vision is strange. It’s like the space is wonky or something. Like… like the inside of this place is bigger than the place itself.”

 

I blinked at that, before looking around in surprise. Spatial magic wasn’t something I expected, but if you took into account that this place seemed to run on horror logic, it made a certain amount of sense. Buildings that are bigger on the inside were something that appeared every now and then in several games or stories.

 

“Terrific. Because this place wasn’t screwy enough already. I’m still freaked out by the fact that the place is lit up even when it is night outside and the lightbulbs aren’t working.”

 

Right after Arsenal said these words, everything went dark. I breathed in deeply, before looking to where he was before it went dark, my voice deadpan.

 

“Thank you for your on point words, truly.

We wouldn’t want this place to be unruly.”

 

“Don’t sass me. I was just pointing it out.” Arsenal’s answer was clearly worried. As we all were now.

 

I couldn’t see in the dark, which was a bit strange, seeing as I was part demon. On the other hand, most of my knowledge about demons – ok, all of my knowledge about demons – came from Dungeons & Dragons, so... 

 

Luckily, I had a way to resolve this problem.

 

_ “Diamond Sphere, filled to the brim _

_ Shed some light, answer to my whim.” _

 

The ball started glowing. Softly at first, before looking light a miniature sun, shedding neon-white light all around us, a lot more than before.

 

Sadly, this also put every single stain and medical(/torture) instrument in stark relief, the silence echoing around us.

 

“...let’s move. The faster we reach the stairs the faster we free those kids.”

 

We started moving again. No one spoke.

 

The silence was oppressive.

 

We found the stairs at the end of the left corridor, as Arsenal had thought, though farther than they should have been. And, to add to everything else, they were shrouded in shadows, shadows that not even the light I was creating was able to dispel completely, almost like they were eating it.

 

“Creepy.” Match’s helpful comment received a glare from both me and Arsenal, to which he answered with a shrug. “What? It’s true.”

 

Yet, once we started descending, even he couldn’t keep up his almost indifferent behavior, growing silent as we were.

 

Soon we could hear the sounds of screams and crying coming from the way too long stairwell, until we reached the end. The floor appeared to be identical to the one above, a single long hallway that ended in an intersection. The doors of this floor – that mirrored those of the floor above – were not barred.They were  simply made of metal, closed with a lock and a bar and only had a spyhole to see inside.

 

We could hear the sobbing of a group from the inside of the rooms, almost low enough to be muffled by the steel door, but strong enough to be just heard.

 

“Match, open the doors.” Arsenal’s voice was steel, an undercurrent of anger that seemed to make his words bubble. Match didn’t say anything, he simply moved to the first door to our left – the nearest door to him – and took the handle.

 

Then he removed the door from the frame with the sound of torn metal echoing through the room, shutting everyone up.

 

Inside the room, no bigger than a medium-sized bedroom, there were at least ten kids, no more than twelve years old, necks chained to the wall, dressed with straight-jackets, covered in dirt and old blood. Various fluids stained their clothes and their cheeks were clean only where their tears had washed away the dirt.

 

We all moved towards them – their flinches made me pretty sick in my stomach – and started freeing them.

 

“We’ll get you all out of here, okay? Everything’s going to be okay, I swear. Sh, shhhh.” Arsenal’s voice was soft and calming, while Match was smiling – a strained smile, I could see clearly – and I… well, I was moving the sphere in various patterns, drawing with the light and trying to keep their attention.

 

Soon everyone was free and we managed to calm them as much as we could, given where we were. Arsenal’s already had started asking questions.

 

“Can you tell me anything about this place? How did you arrive, how much time have you spent here?”

 

The kids looked at each other, before one of them started to talk. “We… we were in class. Then everything went dark, like a really big storm, and the whole place changed. Then… then  **he** came.” Their voices were rough, dry, and cracking, with the bruises from the collars well visible.

 

I was starting to feel a little homicidal.

 

“He? Who is he?” the redhead asked, still gentle. I was stuck on another point, though, class?

 

“He said that he was the one that had caused all of this and that he would turn the school into something more… ap-pro-pri-a-te to the a-sy-lum patients we were.” He stumbled on some words, but the meaning was clear: this place was a school before the bastard that had imprisoned these children had turned it into an asylum.

 

I mean, I could see the irony. Doesn’t mean that I appreciate it.

 

“Did he do anything else?” The children nodded at that.

 

“He… he took some of us and from other classrooms and said… He said that he would experiment on them. Make them more useful or more… in theme?”

 

Yeah, that wasn’t a good thing.

 

“Can you tell us where he went?” Match asked, the fake smile still on his face, kneeling down to reach the child’s eye level, trying to put him more at ease.

 

“The basement. He said that everything was ready.”

 

Arsenal smiled at that, followed by Match and by me, nodding.

 

“Thank you. Now, we’ll free the others,” a quick look at the child to be sure that there were others behind the doors, “and we’ll take you all out of here. Then we’ll go down to the basement and take care of the bad guy that did this.”

 

The children all looked a bit lost, clearly unsure, but apparently willing to trust us, even if only for the reason that we freed them.

 

“One last question. Did he say his name?”

 

They nodded. “He said… that his name was Damian Cult.”

 

*********************************************

 

After that, it was one horror after another, there weren’t two rooms alike.

 

In one, we found the teachers, all in straight jackets, every one of them singled out in a cell covered in mirror and able to see only themselves.

 

In others… children. In various states of restriction, bound to the wall, to beds, to metal tables…

 

I never thought that Roy and Matthew could reach this level of murderous rage, but with every room their faces became stormier and stormier, until Arsenal was gripping his bow with enough strength to make the wood creak, while every movement that Match made was filled with barely restrained strength.

 

The group of still terrified children and adults followed us, all huddling together and jumping at every single movement in the shadows, real or imaginary.

 

To resolve the last problem, at least a bit, I upped the light that my diamond sphere was shedding over the group, banishing the darkness as much as I could.

 

It didn’t help with the whole regenerating magic that I should be doing, but seeing the children’s faces becoming less scared as the light turned up was enough.

 

“Stop.” Arsenal’s voice stopped everyone in their tracks, while Match looked ahead, extremely focused.

 

“Incoming. Two… no, three. One on the ceiling, two on the walls. Big.” I couldn’t see the Kryptonian’s eyes, but I was ready to swear that they were shining red.

 

“Match, you’re on point. Rhyme, defense. I’ll support. Get ready for anything.”

 

And then we heard it. The clicking.

 

Like something with sharp tips hitting lightly the walls and ceiling. It came from the dark hallway in front of us, the sound echoing around.

 

After a few moments, we finally managed to see what was making the sound. First, we saw the children: pale, bloodless faces staring at us with blood-red eyes without iris or sclera. Black hair fell in thick, oily strands around their faces, while their mouths were almost as pale as their faces.

 

They were hugging themselves, arms grasping tightly at the white nightgown they had on, small red and black spots right under their nails. Their legs were dangling uselessly beneath them, naked feet caked in mud and crusted blood.

 

From their backs, eight long, black, chitinous spider legs came out, each one narrowing into a sharp-looking tip, clicking against the walls.

 

Then, the spider-children looked at us with their red eyes for a few seconds that felt far longer than it really was, before shrieking, showing rows of shark-like teeth and bolting towards us, arms extended, with their fingers ending in black claws that dripped with black ichor, the substance sizzling against the floor.

 

_ “Diamond sphere, burning bright _

_ protect us all with hard light!” _

 

The light became a wall in front of us, reminding me of Green Lantern, only moments before the three… creatures hit us.

 

They simply slammed against the shield, drawing shrieks of terror from the group behind us and making us flinch back, too.

 

They started to slam their claws against the shield, making me flinch, but for another reason entirely. I could feel their hits, like something was pounding on my mind. It didn’t hurt, for now.

 

But it would start to, very fast, if no one made anything.

 

“Match!” Arsenal shouted, unsure on what to do, as the shield seemed to be impenetrable from both sides, at least when he tried to poke it with an arrow.

 

Match didn’t answer, simply looking at the beings, his eyes starting to glow red, before a laser moved from one side of the hallway to the other, searing through the legs of the monsters, cutting them out and sending the children down on the floor, their bodies in a seizures, before they vanished into a puff of smoke, leaving only three black dead spiders.

 

This was the last thing I saw, before fainting, a splitting headache sending me on the ground, the shield shattering like it never was and only the voice of Matthew roaring his codename to keep me company in the dark.

 

***********************************************

 

“On your left!” Something thunked against a wall, shrieking in outrage. Someone was crying.  _ Several _ someones.

 

I was lying horizontally and on something that was vaguely soft. Not a bed, though.

 

I could still feel my nose filled with the smell of dust, old blood, fecal matter, and stale sweat. That told me that I was still in that nightmare of an asylum.

 

There were sounds of battle all around me, while I tried to get up, still groggy. This wasn’t the moment to faint or to fall asleep.

 

Flashes of memory repeated themselves behind my eyelids, reminding myself that I had fallen asleep because Match had used his Heat Sight on both the Spider Children from Hell and the shield.

 

A shield that was, unfortunately, still connected to me. Thus, fainting.

 

I needed to find a way to not connect to it and to stop daydreaming. I was feeling better and they needed my help.

 

Getting up was harder than it looked, my head turning and twisting like on a rollercoaster, my stomach not feeling any better. But I more or less managed.

 

If you count ‘up’ as me using my own arm as a crutch to keep the upper part of my body raised enough to see around me.

 

Personally, I did. Still, with the scene that greeted me, maybe it would have been better if I kept sleeping.

 

We were in what looked like the reception lounge of a hotel: a greeting desk against the wall in front of the double doors leading to the outside, small chairs and couches littering the space, twin stairs on the right and the left going up…

 

A mass of terrified schoolchildren in the center of the hall, all huddling around me, while the other two heroes were battling a swarm of those creepy spider-children coming from the stairs, spitting acidic ichor everywhere. The walls were littered with gouges from their claws and their shrill cries filled the air.

 

Match and Arsenal were wounded, but not seriously, at least as far as I could see: some scratches here and there, their clothes torn around the elbows and the torso, but nothing more. They didn’t seem too tired, either.

 

“Ah! You’re awake!” A young voice came from near my head, making me turn towards one of the children that were around me.

 

He was one of the guys we saved from the rooms, dressed in that white straightjacket – with the restraints tore off, of course – and was looking at me, clutching something shiny in his hand.

 

Something shiny that started to shine with white light. Uh.

 

“I didn’t die from that smack.

Question; can I have that back?”

 

I pointed towards the sphere, with him glancing down for a moment, before extending his hand to me. “Oh, yeah! Sure. Here you go!”

 

I nodded a thank you, while the diamond ball simply rose in the air and started shedding light all around me like a lightbulb.

 

This accomplished two things: One, it showed the others that I was awake, and two, it was a check to see how my head was.

 

No pain. That was good. Still, by the way that they were fighting, the Creepy Spider Children kept coming, even with them splatting them. Match was working on the frontline, being a wall that was all but impassable. Still, even when some of the monsters managed to pass him, Arsenal sniped them out of the air with his arrows, before recovering them.

 

The ones that weren’t broken.

 

When I moved to get up, I heard something metallic hitting each other and, when I looked down, I saw two old fashioned keys in my lap, a little metal tag attached to each one. Then, I looked at the group of children and worried teachers.

 

“I was out from that small tap,

can someone give me a recap?”


	12. Chapter 12: Samhain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Attempt ad horror start here. And it will continue next chapter.
> 
> Oh, and one spider. No descriptions, though.

It took them a few minutes – and three more arrows lost to the Creepy Spider Children – and one of the teachers had filled me on what had happened in the time I was out.

 

Apparently, it was only a few minutes, but Roy and Matthew had finally managed to find the first key. It was in one of the closed doors, around the neck of a child bound to her bed, like the one at the top of the Asylum. The second key was at reception, on the desk, together with a leather-bound book, a diary.

 

Inside it, there were the – fake – words of one of the medics of the Asylum, talking about the basement and how the devil resided there. So they closed the door with four locks and hidden the keys around the Asylum, so that no one could release that evil.

 

At the end of the diary there was the location of three keys. One at the top of the asylum, one in the middle, and one at the bottom. The location of the fourth one wasn’t there.

 

Still, that didn’t meant that we were collecting the keys for the room where the boy was been kept.

 

Then, I blinked and looked behind the reception desk. There were those small cubicles where people kept the keys of the room in a hotel. And, well, it didn’t seem as if anyone had tried to search it, so.

 

Worth a try.

 

Getting up was easier than I thought, my headache cleared and my energy somewhat recovered. Not fully, but better than before.

 

And I could move without wobbling like a newborn calf, so I classified it as a victory. Once I reached the reception desk, without Match or Arsenal noticing, I stood on the old chair there to reach the keys, coughing due to the amount of dust that had collected over it, and started searching for the keys.

 

The numbering system was easy: zero was for the ground floor, then rising until three, which was the top floor, except for the attic. The key for the room three-oh-three was there. A ring with three keys on it.

 

“Match and Arsenal, soon heed my call!

I found the key of the prisoner above all!”

 

I shouted, holding the keys above my head, and attracting their attention long enough that one of those CSCs managed to sneak past Match and launched itself towards the schoolchildren, who shrieked in terror.

 

Luckily, an arrow pierced its head before it could actually reach them and the creature burst into a cloud of smoke, leaving only a spider pierced in the middle.

 

“Coming. Give me one sec to close these doors back up again...” Match shouted back, while Arsenal made his way towards me, slowly walking backwards, keeping his eyes glued on the battle.

 

I narrowed my eyes, before putting the keys on the desk, raising my hands, and casting.

 

_ “From my fingers, lightning bolt lash _

_ Hit the monsters and turn them to ash!” _

 

“Match, down!” The redhead’s shout was obeyed without a moment of hesitation from the Kryptonian, before streaks of purple-white lightning lanced from my fingertips and slammed against the first CSC. And then to the second and third and fourth and so on, until I was basically back to my pre-nap level of energy. Match managed to close the door, at least, and gingerly walked towards me.

 

“Nice to see you up! Listen, I’m sorry for accidentally making you faint. I didn’t know that the shield wasn’t permeable from the inside,” he said apologetically, one hand rubbing the back of his head and the other stiff at his side.

 

I smiled at him and shook my head, before waving with my hand.

 

“On the error, do not dwell

All forgiven, all is well.”

 

His smile was blinding, before he grabbed me in a hug and rose in the air, twirling in a circle. Arsenal was the one to interrupt us.

 

“Yes, nice seeing that you are okay Rhyme. But, while checking that you are okay should be the priority, right now we have people to save. You said that you have the keys?” I nodded at him, once my head had stop spinning from the whole twirling, and pointed at the ring of keys that I had left on the desk. The tag had the number of the closed room.

 

“Good job. We couldn’t really check the room while under assault, as those monsters kept appearing once we got hold of the second key.” Arsenal took the ring of keys and started moving towards the door to the outside, calling to the children and the teachers.

 

“Ok, everyone! You are going to get home and go back to your family! We’ll do another check of the place and see if there is someone else imprisoned inside, before going down and trying to take care of this Damian Cult in the basement.”

 

The group of people looked incredibly relieved at this and, after Arsenal had managed to find the keys to the front door, everyone was out and running back towards their home, the bats scattering away from their resting places, flying away from the sounds.

 

“Match? Can you take us up once again? From the outside should be easier than fighting the creatures inside. They are swarming all over the place.”

 

The clone grinned, before grabbing Arsenal – he hadn’t put me down again from before – with one arm and started to float upwards. “Sure thing!”

 

We shot up like a bullet, reaching the window that we had broken in a couple of seconds, before floating inside and, against Arsenal’s protest, Match brought the two of us in front of the locked door, before putting him down.

 

Room Three-Oh-Three.

 

From the spyhole, we could see that the boy was still alive, so Arsenal grabbed the keys and tried to open the door.  It didn’t take all that much time, only needing to try one key twice, before finding the right order. The door opened with a shriek of rusted metal, making the boy look towards us in a panic.

 

He relaxed almost instantly when he saw that we weren’t the SoB that had bound him there. The first thing to go was the gag. Mostly because it was the easier one.

 

“Kid, are you okay?” Roy’s voice was laced with concern, as he looked at him. The kid gulped a couple of time, before nodding weakly.

 

“Better, now. Who are you?” He glanced at us with curious eyes, before looking at Arsenal, who was starting to work on the restraints with a set of lockpicks he had managed to find… somewhere.

 

“I’m Arsenal, the big one is Match and the small one is Rhyme. We are superheroes.”

 

The boy blinked, before smiling. “I’m Billy! Billy Batson! Are you with the Justice League? Will you take care of the villain that caused all this?”

 

I would have frozen, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was already suspecting who he was. I mean, blue eyes, black hair, Fawcett City, a gag that blocked his mouth, and the age range. Still, it was a near thing. On the other hand, now that he was free to talk, I was suspecting that Captain Marvel would appear fairly fast.

 

Or I could direct him to take care of the other villains that were plaguing the city. That worked, too.

 

Mmhh…. decisions, decisions…

 

Then, the memory of the deranged she-ghost that called herself Lady Geist passed across my mind and the decision was basically set.

 

“There are more than one, at least another three.

They’re destroying the city as monsters wannabe.”

 

There. That should work.

 

Billy’s eyes looked at me with confusion, before registering what I had said and starting to sparkle with anger.

 

“There are more than that? I was wondering why the police or a member of the League wasn’t coming, but I didn’t think that...”

 

Roy stopped that train of thought as he finished removing the last of the restraints. “Yeah. So we need you to go straight home while we take care of this Damian Cult. Can you do that? Normally one of us would accompany you, but I’m pretty sure that we need all hands on deck for this, at least until the JL come.”

 

Billy nodded. “Yeah, sure. I can reach home no problem. Thanks.”

 

He was rubbing his wrists, red and swollen, but he didn’t look particularly in pain. That was good.

 

“Well, ready to go? Match will take you down.” Arsenal gestured towards the clone, who rolled his eyes and set me down, before smiling at Billy and floating nearer. The boy looked at him with a strange expression, before blinking in surprise, like he had just remembered something.

 

“Wait! I just remembered that the guy that bound me to the bed had left something under the pillow. A key, I think.”

 

We stopped, before Arsenal smiled at him. “Thank you Billy. This will be extremely useful. Now, though, you really need to get away from here.”

 

The boy nodded again. “Okay. Thank you for saving me!” And he hugged Match, who smirked and floated upwards, before zipping out of the room. In the meantime, Arsenal moved to the head of the bed and, right under the pillow, exactly as Billy had said, there was a key, almost identical to the other two that I still had in my possession.

 

“Now we just need the last one.”

 

“Just answer me this, if you please:

Where did you find the other keys?”

 

Arsenal blinked at me under his mask before answering, while Match returned through the hole in the wall.

 

“One was around the neck of one of the children. The other was on the counter down on the ground floor. And the third, well, you saw yourself. Why?”

 

“If I understood what the diary implies,

Then I know where the last key lies.”

 

“Really?” Match was the one to ask, floating to me and grabbing me, before cradling me in his arms. I would have protested, but he seemed to be slightly shaking, so I refrained.

 

In the meantime Arsenal was looking at me, before gesturing to go on.

 

“To conclude our woe

To the attic we must go.”

 

Silence.

 

“Yeah, that sounds plausible. And like a trap,” Roy said, nodding, arms crossed. Match shrugged, before moving me, now using only one arm to keep me, holding his left arm as a ‘seat’ for me, before starting to move to Arsenal.

 

“Well, what are we waiting for? These creeps won’t get squashed by themselves!” He cheered, his grin in full force once again, before grabbing Arsenal – again – and flying out of the hole in the wall and upwards, until we reached the attic.

 

It wasn’t a very long flight, seeing that the attic was just above the floor where we were. On the other hand, it was pretty dark and only thanks to the light of my diamond sphere did we manage to see something, once we entered through the broken window.

 

Match put both of us on the floor, before looking around the room. Arsenal and I did the same: lots of cardboard boxes covered in dust and cobwebs, what looked like a trap door under another box – an empty one – and an old dresser, where something metallic glinted under the light.

 

“Well, that was easy.” Match shrugged, before floating towards the key and grabbing it.

 

And then he stopped moving. It’s not like he wasn’t trying to move, more that he  _ couldn’t _ move.

 

“Uh, guys? I’m… stuck.”

 

Arsenal took a deep breath, before nodding. “Stuck in what?” His voice had a trace of exasperation, but he was keeping himself calm, for now.

 

“I’m… not sure. Threads?”

 

I moved the ball nearer him, making it shine brighter, and soon we managed to see what was keeping him imprisoned: a web.

 

A gigantic, silvery, spider’s web. And where there’s a web…

 

Both me and Arsenal raised our heads, looking upwards, between the rafters of the attic, above the dresser. There a giant, black, hairy spider with a red hourglass on its back sat.

 

“Match, stay very,  _ very _ still,” Roy whispered, moving slowly towards his bow. As for me, I was paralyzed.

 

I had a rather bad fear of bugs and arachnids. And while it felt somewhat muted in this new body of mine, this spider was simply too big for me to not be scared.

 

On the other hand, I had magic now.

 

And that meant:  **_kill it with fire!!!_ **

 

_ “Magical flames that won’t burn us _

_ Cremate the spider without fuss.” _

 

Purple fire lanced from me and filled the whole room in an instant, making the spider screech – a sound that I would hear in my  _ nightmares _ – and skitter down the web, trying to reach one of us.

 

“Rhyme, dammit...!” Arsenal shouted, but I wasn’t listening to him. I was pushing more power into the fire, the Time Turner on my chest spinning like a whirligig, purple fire alighting the whole room in an eerie light. And, most importantly, lighting up all the spiders and bugs that were around here.

 

Black forms fell to the ground, burnt to a crisp, while I directed the main strength of the attack towards the giant spider, using my hands to direct what was basically a flamethrower straight against it.

 

It kept on screeching, trying to move away from my attack, while I was screaming in a mix of fear and anger, until I was exhausted, the whole room was on fire and the spider was deader than dead.

 

“Well, that gives the phrase ‘Kill it with fire’ another meaning entirely. Still, I can’t say that it didn’t work.” Match, free from the giant web, simply took the key before the dresser could be turned into ashes, turning towards me and smiling. I returned the smile, nodding weakly.

 

Arsenal didn’t look too comfortable, but his expression faltered in the face of the smile that Match was wearing, so his stern face – mostly his mouth, since his mask covered his eyes – only lasted a few moments, before nodding.

 

“Yeah, sure. But let’s get a move on before the whole building goes up into flames.” And he moved towards the window from where we entered. I cut the flow of energy to the flames and the unnatural fire died down instantly.

 

Then we rode the Match Express back down on the ground floor and walked towards the doors to the basement. The one from where the whole flood of Creepy Spider Children came from.

 

Match stopped in front of it, his face scrunched in concentration, listening.

 

“Nothing. I can’t hear anything.” At that, Arsenal narrowed his eyes, before nodding decisively and moving back a couple of steps, an arrow already in hand. I walked unsteadily behind him, already prepared to create my shield.

 

My hands were trembling very slightly in exhaustion, before I shut my eyes and pressed the palms of my hands on them, shaking my head and focusing once again.

 

I nodded at Match and Arsenal, the two looking a bit worried. But we didn’t have the time to let me recover the energy I spent and we didn’t even have some food.

 

The door to the basement opened with a screech of rusty hinges, revealing the long stairwell going downward, with no light to relieve the darkness that enveloped what was a tunnel.

 

“Same formation as before, with Rhyme in the middle and I’ll take the rear. Move on,” Arsenal commanded, before gesturing to me to get in front of him. What could I do, apart from obeying? I started walking.

 

We moved cautiously downwards, me and Roy wary of the stairs, the possibility of a fall pretty high. The whole thing was a tight fit, the steps narrow and uneven due to the humidity. And the silence was oppressive, even our breaths sounded muffled.

 

The stairwell seemed to go on forever, but after what were no more than a few minutes, we reached the end. It opened on a short hallway with three doors: the Boiler Room, the Laundry Room, and the Basement.

 

The boiler room looked in good condition still, even if the equipment was old. The laundry room, on the other hand, was devastated: none of the machines were still intact, everything was completely smashed to pieces.

 

The Basement door had the expected four locks keeping the door closed. From the outside.

 

“Wait a sec. If the locks are on the outside, how did this Damian close himself in it?” Match scratched his head, his voice far lower than normal.

 

I gazed at him, thinking on his question. In the end I could only speculate on it, but if I had to hazard a guess…

 

“A narrative he’s trying to sell

To strengthen his magics as well.”

 

Both my companions looked at me, before Arsenal shrugged his shoulders. “It’s as valid a reason as any other. We won’t really know the truth unless he decides to tell us. And, for what it’s worth, I have no intention of giving him the chance. Open the door.”

 

Match took the keys and started with the highest one. Each one was more rusted than the one before, so much that I actually worried that the last one would snap inside the lock before it opened it.

 

Luckily, it didn’t.

 

The door opened on what looked like another stairwell, this one a bit larger and less rickety, made of stone instead of old wood, that led to another door.

 

“Seriously? _ Another _ door? Are we inside a matryoshka? I understand that they were going for spooky, but this is getting annoying.” Match’s voice broke the silence, making us release the breath that we had kept in surprise.

 

He wasn’t wrong, though.

 

“I mean, come on! The asylum with the people in the rooms chained to the walls, the medical instruments of torture, the diary with the story about the devil in the basement, the four keys, the giant spider? Total horror clichè! And it went on for far too long: now it’s getting stale and boring!”

 

His words echoed on the walls and the roof, before vanishing after a moment, leaving him gasping and red in the face, an angry slant on his eyes.

 

“Match, you’re right.” Arsenal nodded. “This is basically a horror video game. We managed to beat his challenge and we reached the final boss. Let’s show him that he messed with the wrong guys, ok?” He put a hand on his shoulder, while I tugged on his hand and nodded, smiling.

 

“You guys are great. Best mental best friends that I could ask for.” He smirked at us, only a side of his mouth going up. “Yeah, let’s show him that he chose the wrong heroes to mess with!”

 

And we moved forward once again, passing the door, ready to put an end to this farce of an Asylum.

 

Yet, we stopped right on the threshold.

 

The basement was a large room, circular in shape, with a boiling cauldron-slash-pool in the middle of the room, a red liquid inside. Around the room, children were hanging on the walls by the wrists, blood slowly pouring down in rivulets and followed the carvings in the floor, staining the rock in arcane symbols.

 

“Well, well, well. It seems like the heroes had managed to save the people inside this asylum, discover the clues, and find the keys, before reaching my Sancta Sanctorum, ready to fight against the devil in the basement. How brave of them.”

 

The guy – and it was a guy – was covered with a pristine white robe and was looking at us from the other side of the room, the only skin that was visible was his mouth and the chin.

 

“It’s a shame that you won’t survive your fight against me. Well, at least I will use your bodies better than you are.”

 

“Dude, you are outnumbered three to one. Shouldn’t this be the moment when you start asking for mercy?” Match crossed his arms, looking at Damian Cult like he was completely crazy.

 

“A good point. Allow me to demonstrate why it isn’t correct.” He shot a red… something made of energy at Match, faster than he could react, sending him tumbling against the wall, apparently dazed.

 

_ “Diamond sphere, burning bright _

_ protect us all with hard light!” _

 

I barely managed to raise the shield in time to avoid another one of those projectiles hitting me and Arsenal, who had already aimed the arrow at him.

 

“Ah, yes. The other magic practitioner that I had felt. It’s a shame that you are so deprived of energy, fighting you while at your best would have led me to a more satisfying victory. Nevertheless, a win is a win. And you have meddled with our plan far too long.”

 

The red projectiles started to come far faster and they literally rained on my shield, making me wince and fall on my knees. I wouldn’t last much longer.

 

The only thing that I managed to do before the shield shattered was to pat Arsenal on the arm and to point him away.

 

Then one of the red bolts of energy hit the light shield I was using and shattered it like glass, before the bolts that came after that hit me and slammed me against the wall behind me, making me lose my breath.

 

My vision swam in front of me and I kind of lost the concept of time, only seeing what happened later in snapshots.

 

Snap – Match launching himself against Damian, fist extended.

 

Snap – Arsenal hitting him with an arrow, only to be intercepted by a red shield.

 

Snap – Damian retaliating with a wave of energy.

 

Snap – Match keeping it at bay with his heat vision.

 

Snap – Arsenal throwing away the remains of his bow and moving the right arm to do… something.

 

I needed to help them somewhat. But how could I…

 

**_******************_ **

**_Gone, gone the form of man_ **

**_Rise the demon Etrigan!_ **

**_******************_ **

 

If he could… why couldn’t I? I mean, I came from his blood, after all…

 

_ “The human blood is no more _

_ Demon blood, come to the fore.” _

 

Black fog blocked my vision and I knew no more.


	13. Chapter 13: Uh-Oh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Horror ends here. Mention of... well being sorta buried alive. Only in part, tho.

**Roy’s PoV**

 

My right arm itched.

 

Right at the junction just under my elbow, where the biological-slash-mechanical replacement Alex had created with some scraps was joined.

 

It was strange, feeling the pressure and the heat and everything else that a normal arm made of flesh blood could feel on something that, by all means, shouldn’t be able to.

 

Still, in the very short time that I had spent with him, I knew that he had the best intentions. He just didn’t stop to think about the consequences of what he was doing before doing it.

 

Exhibit A: Match.

 

Exhibit B: The ‘distraction’.

 

Exhibit C: The ‘Experiment’.

 

And those were just the first three that came to mind.

 

I threw myself to the side, rolling and ending up on my knee, bowstring in tension, an arrow already flying towards this Damian Cult before he had managed to break the hard-light shield that he had created.

 

Not that it helped, as a blood-red shield appeared around him and blocked both my arrow – plus the other three that I had drawn and shot while the first one was flying towards him – and Match’s attempt to charge.

 

The red shield pulsed and glowed for a moment and it was only due to the fact that I had already left my previous position and launched myself behind one of the columns that the wave of energy missed me.

 

This Damian Cult was more dangerous than he looked. He looked like a horror movie reject, but his powers were pretty real and the way he behaved around the others were all pretty clear indicators on how little he cared about them.

 

Another two arrows whizzed near him, forcing him to create another shield. I lost those, but I managed to break one of the manacles that kept the kids chained to the wall, so I was counting it as a necessary sacrifice.

 

Damn, some trick arrows would be pretty useful right now…

 

Even that dumb Boxing Glove arrow that GA kept in reserve.

 

… My right arm itched.

 

“I’ll turn you into casserole!” Match’s scream was enough to allow me to change position once again AND to release three more arrows, breaking more manacles.

 

The Heat Sight that he was using helped, I must admit. Still, almost there. I’d be almost out of arrows after that, but I should manage to have freed almost everyone in here and the one that I couldn’t, I’d try by hand. I still had my lockpicks, so…

 

“No more of this, I think.”

 

A red glow enveloped Match, before throwing him towards the wall and making it shake with the strength of it, before binding him to the wall with what look like chains made of red light.

 

After that, he turned towards me, two points of red light coming out from the hood, someway not dispelling the darkness that veiled his face.

 

Dramatic, I had to give him that.

 

“You tried to take my little sacrifices away from me. Intelligent, I must admit, but your attempt stops here.” He waved his hands towards me, a red glow lancing around me like tentacles, solid enough to crack the stone around them, before trying to close on me.

 

A maneuver that would almost surely be fatal for me.

 

I had to sacrifice my bow – the one that Rhyme had created for me from scrap wood – to escape its clutches, using it to deflect two of the red tendrils and rolling away.

 

Bow’s gone.

 

I threw away the pieces, before grabbing my right arm and pointing my palm towards Damian Cult.

 

I wasn’t sure that it would work, but, from what I had discovered in my attempts to fiddle with it just this morning, there was a good chance that it had that kind of feature.

 

“Come on, come on…!” I almost bit my own tongue, as I adjusted the various dials that had appeared on the glass-like surface of my arm, relying on instinct and literally nothing else to find the right configuration.

 

Well, that and my not inconsiderable intelligence.

 

I almost had it, mainly thanks to the fact that I just had to slide the finger of my left hand on it, before grabbing my wrist and aiming at the cultist, when I heard it.

 

_ “The human blood is now no more _

_ Demon blood, now come to the fore.” _

 

I froze. Match froze. Damian Cult didn’t freeze, but he turned towards the voice with what I could tell was a puzzled expression.

 

Black fog started to mount quickly, engulfing Rhyme and hiding him from sight, before covering a good part of the basement.

 

It didn’t reach us, so we didn’t have to deal with the obstruction to our sight or the potential for smoke inhalation, but it still lingered. Then… someone came from the fog.

 

It was a guy, mid-twenties, black hair tied in a short ponytail, white skin, dressed in a tailed tuxedo, white shirt, black dress pants, black dress shoes, white gloves, black tie and a black top hat with a white sash around it. In his hands, a black  [ cane ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR0YXqIMin3PLLAvtCe5RDSvcd5RZedp173CT-KO6N_IDRHkrKt) , with a familiar-looking crystal on the top.... 

 

His smile was amused, red lips stretched in what I would have called more a show of teeth than a smile, black eyes glittering, looking at us.

 

No, at Damian Cult.

 

Then… I heard the  [ music ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmWWNsvg0Hk) . The sound came from thin air, leaving me unable to pinpoint the source. It was enough to catch all of us by surprise, if the appearance of this new player wasn’t.

 

And then he opened his mouth and started to sing, low, the words reverberating in the air.

 

_ “Spooky, scary skeletons _

_ Send shivers down your spine, _

_ Shrieking skulls will shock your soul _

_ Seal your doom tonight.” _

 

Then, the clacking of bones started to echo around the room, before several ghostly skeletons simply manifested from thin air all around Damian Cult, their empty eye sockets shining with black-purple light, phalanges extended in a bid to catch him, hitting the shield and simply… pushing past it, the red rippling like water under their attack.

 

“What?! Away, you old bones!” A wave of red energy threw the skeletons away from him, bashing them against the walls and scattering them to pieces. Not that it stopped them for more than a fraction of a second or so, they literally recomposed themselves like a puzzle and started advancing once again.

 

In the meantime, the guy kept singing, now dancing a bit as well, his cane tapping in-time on the stone pavement.

 

_ “Spooky, scary skeletons _

_ Speak with such a screech,” _

 

At this, he dragged the end of his cane on the ground, creating a sound that was similar to nails on chalkboard, the skeletons moving even faster than before, surrounding Damian once again.

 

_ “You'll shake and shudder in surprise _

_ When you hear these zombies shriek.” _

 

Damian rose in the air, red glow faltering around him, before the skeletons shrieked somewhat, sending him back to the ground.

 

_ “We're sorry skeletons, you're so misunderstood, _

_ You only want to socialize, but I don't think we should.” _

 

The guy covered his mouth with his hand, like he was surprised by what had happened, before smirking and starting to dance once again, pointing with his cane towards Damian, who was now trying to blast the skeletons into dust, to avoid their reforming.

 

Thanks to that, he had lost his focus on Match’s restraints, so I quietly moved towards him, trying to be as stealthy as I could.

 

_ “'Cause spooky, scary skeletons _

_ Shout startling, shrilly screams, _

_ They'll sneak from their sarcophagus _

_ And just won't leave you be.” _

 

Cult seemed to be in trouble, as ear-piercing shrieks kept coming from the skulls surrounding him and disrupted his powers, leaving the various skeletons free to grab at him and slowly immobilizing him.

 

The singer was moving near him, right now, tip-tapping towards that part of the room, before stopping and pointing his cane towards him. And, right behind Damian Cult, a massive sarcophagus made of stone rose, rock lid slowly sliding open.

 

That caused the guy to renew his fight, way more frantic than before.

 

_ “Spirits supernatural are shy what’s all the fuss? _

_ But bags of bones seem so unsafe, it's semi-serious!” _

 

The singer let out laughter that seemed to superimpose on his words, somehow singing both of them at the same time, before smiling at the robed villain and waving with his hands towards the skeletons, that, suddenly, started to drag him towards the stone casket.

 

To the alarm of Damian Cult.

 

I tried to be sympathetic, I really tried, but… looking around and seeing the kids still hanging from the wall, I found myself pretty low in sympathy right now. In the meantime...

 

“Match, you okay?” I kept my voice to a whisper, not wanting to attract the attention of the newcomer, especially if it meant that I would be his next target.

 

“Yeah. I’m just… surprised. By him.” He waved towards the singer, who was still advancing towards the still struggling robed figure, the cultist’s hood having fallen sideways, revealing his face.

 

Kind of plain: brown eyes, brown hair, caucasian, freckles. The only notable part was a scar that cut his lips in half diagonally, from under his right eye to the left part of his chin.

 

_ “Spooky, scary skeletons _

_ Are silly all the same, _

_ They'll smile and scrabble slowly by _

_ And drive you so insane.” _

 

And he was scared. Terrified, actually, if the way he was fighting against the hold that the bones had on his arm was any indication. Red light – now much fainter and looking weaker than before – was spilling from his hands and sending the various bones away with what looked like kinetic impacts, only for them to return to their proper place moments later, literally no damage done.

 

The singer was now right in front of him, showing his teeth in a parody of a smile, as his voice came on a bit lower and slower, almost biting.

 

_ “Sticks and stones will break your bones _

_ They seldom let you snooze.” _

 

The skeletons had finally managed to push Damian Cult in the sarcophagus, keeping him in it, even as he tried to grab the edges to give himself leverage. They resolved the problem by pinning his arms to his sides. Two other skeletons started to push the stone lid, slowly closing the casket.

 

_ “Spooky, scary skeletons...” _

 

The singer bent near the small opening in that remained in front of Damian’s face, a look of enjoyment on his face. 

 

_ “...Will wake you with a...  _ **_booh._ ** _ ” _

 

He sang the last word of the song exactly at the same time as the lid closed off completely, muffling the shouts coming from the inside.

 

While all of this was happening, Match and I were working on the manacles that kept the children chained, making no sound that wasn’t absolutely necessary, trying to avoid to get the attention of the singer, in case he decided to take us out.

 

The music stopped for a moment, before starting once again. This time, though, a different  [ tune ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsLATkjfkgY) started to play.

 

The singer smirked, before starting to walk towards Match, who seemed to be frozen on the spot, his eyes glued to the willowy form of the guy.

 

“Keep him busy and don’t get killed. I’ll free the others.” I started to work faster, taking care to walk away from the whole area as stealthily as I could. In the meantime, I really hoped that Match wouldn’t end dead or worse.

 

…. My right arm kept itching. I didn’t have the time to scratch it, though. Maybe once everything was done.

 

_ “You're so hot, teasing me _

_ So you're blue _

_ But I can't take a chance _

_ On a kid like you _

_ It's something I couldn't do.” _

 

I glanced back and the only thing that I managed to see was the fingers of the singer slowly caressing a reddening Match, before pushing him away and starting to dance around him. After that, I returned to my duty.

 

_ “There's that look in your eyes _

_ I can read in your face _

_ That your feelings _

_ Are driving you wild _

_ Ah, but boy you're only a child.” _

 

Another glance and I turned my head faster than I thought possible, trying to not see what the singer was doing to poor Match. I was pretty sure that he would need to have an inhuman spine and ribcage to move like that and if Match kept blushing, he would pass out from blood loss.

 

And they were still dressed. I admit that part of me was pretty impressed.

 

_ “Well I can dance with you honey _

_ If you think it's funny _

_ But does your mother know _

_ That you're out _

_ And I can chat with you baby _

_ Flirt a little maybe _

_ But does your mother know _

_ That you're out...” _

 

The music cut out with the creak-crack-slam of wood breaking, before the concrete over our head caved in, turning everyone’s attention towards the center of the room, where a tall teenager dressed as a stereotypical vampire was trying to get up once again, blood splatters all around his form, tinting what once was a white shirt a deep red.

 

Right after him, the unmistakable figure of Captain Marvel flew down, hovering a few feet from the floor.

 

“So, Vladimir Blood, are you ready to surrender?”

 

The vampire – red hair, red face, red everything from the blood – managed to get up, before his eyes rolled back and he fell on the ground, out cold.

 

“Well, that was dramatic. Oh, hey! You’re the three heroes that freed the school! Thanks guys, I didn’t manage to get here until you had done part of the job. I should have reacted faster, but I was… out of town. Yeah.”

 

He chuckled, before looking at the singer, who was looking at him with a strange expression on his face. 

 

“Uh… wasn’t there a kid with you? Or so they said to me.” He smiled awkwardly, floating closer to the singer, before extending his hand, a big smile on his face.

 

“Hello, I’m Captain Marvel. You are?”

 

The guy looked at him for a moment, before collapsing like a marionette with its strings cut, Match grabbing him before he could break his head on the concrete. Then, black smoke started enveloping him and his form wavered away, revealing that Rhyme was the singer all this time.

 

This was gonna be filed straight up under reason number four.

 

“Ooooook… Is he okay? He doesn’t look so good.”

 

“Just exhausted, I think. He probably used too much energy in catching the guy that did this to the school.” Match pointed to the stone coffin with a finger, the other hand cradling the still form of our teammate.

 

“Ohhh… that makes sense! So, Vladimir Blood, Lady Geist, Miss Moonshine, Pumpkin Jack, and Damian Cult is in the sarcophagus. That’s all five. Now that their power over the city has broken, everything should return to normal soon. I hope.”

 

“Great! Nice to hear that we were of help. But, if you could help us free the rest of these kids?” My voice came out a tad too dry, but I was kind of tired to be the only one that was busting his ass to free the hostages.

 

Captain Marvel blushed, before starting to work. Match, instead, shrugged and showed his arm filled with a passed out Rhyme. I glared at him, with just a smile thrown in my direction, before he sat down near Vladimir.

 

***************************

 

The air outside of the school turned asylum was fresh and crisp, even if the faux night still enveloped the city, a coat of stars over the sky.

 

That, or we lost our sense of time inside that horror show and it was really night.

 

Match was keeping Rhyme in his hands, while I was receiving the thanks for our assistance from Captain Marvel, who was smiling with the strength of the sun. I smiled back, before grasping his hand and giving him a firm handshake.

 

“Really, thank you for your help. I don’t want to think what would have happened if you weren’t there.”

 

“Really Captain, everything’s okay. Me and the others just did what anyone would do in front of that.” I nodded at my words, a smile mirroring the one that was given to me.

 

“You are far too modest. I must admit, I have never heard of any of you before today. Are you new heroes?” His look turned into a curiosity filled expression, looking at all of us. I gulped as silently as I could, before nodding.

 

“Yeah, kinda. This was our first true heroic mission.”

 

Well, it was true. I scratched my arm, finally getting rid of the damned itch.

 

“Well, that’s even more commendable, then! To fight this horror as your first foray into heroics and coming out with no wounds and still wanting to be a hero… It’s something that even some adult heroes don’t have.”

 

Then a red light started blipping near his head, stalling what I wanted to say.

 

“Sorry, it’s the Justice League. I have to answer this call. I’ll use this occasion to put a good word for you in the meantime.” He winked at me, before moving a bit away and taking his call, talking with his voice too low for me to hear.

 

I meandered back to Match, the feeling of accomplishment in my chest strong enough to burst. I couldn’t do anything to stop the smile from forming on my face.

 

“How’s Alex?”

 

“Getting better. You look happy.” Match’s smile was smaller than mine, but still genuine. I smiled back at him, unable to contain my giddiness.

 

“Hell yeah, I look happy! Captain Marvel called us heroes and said that he would put a good word with the JLA. After that, if we can square away the whole accident with the jewelry store without any other major blunder, we’re gonna be finally on the right track to be a recognized hero team with way more ability to help people...”

 

I shouldn’t have said what I said, but I was too happy to think about my words. And I jinxed myself.

 

The sound of an explosion made all of us turn towards the place where the five dudes that had created all of this mess where being held, bound and unconscious. Except…

 

Pumpkin Jack had managed to get up and free, an expression of fury on his face.

 

“What is happ… How did you manage to escape?”

 

Captain Marvel’s voice went from cheery to steely in a nanosecond, eyes flinty as he glared at Pumpkin Jack, who glared back with the same intensity.

 

Which was… very strange, seeing as his head was still a pumpkin.

 

“What, you thought that I was down for the count? Think again.” After he had sneered that, he launched a series of pumpkins towards us, filling the air with smoke and explosions.

 

“Behind me!” The older hero shielded us with his body, but it revealed to be… useless?

 

The explosions were mostly just sound and light, the smoke was colored and vanished fast. My mind instantly went to a possible distraction and I was prepared to not see the five still there once it had cleared out.

 

Wrong assumption. The Horror Five were still there, even still bound. The only thing that had changed was their position.

 

They were now placed like the five points of a star, with Pumpkin Jack still looking towards us.

 

“You thought you had defeated us, but this was just the start!” Then, he raised his hand to the sky and uttered a single sentence.

 

_ “To avenge this grave affront, _

_ I now summon the Wild Hunt!” _

 

He promptly fainted. We were still and unsure what had just happened, before a young voice shook us aware.

 

“The hunt has now begun.

And as prey, we must run.”


	14. Chapter 14: Sunset Approach

It took me at least ten minutes to wake up properly, the foggy remains of exhaustion still clinging to my eyes, the feeling very similar to when I went to bed at 6 A.M. and woke up after only four and a half hours of sleep.

 

I simply stood there, trying to blink away the tiredness, when colored smoke appeared in front of me, making me just want to go to sleep.

 

I even closed my eyes, the darkness threatening to take me away once again in the comfort of Morpheus, when I heard the voice. And, especially, I heard what it said.

 

_ “To avenge this grave affront, _

_ I now summon the Wild Hunt!” _

 

Well, fuck. I guess that this whole Hero business was both harder and less rewarding than I thought it was. Maybe I should have tried to be an independent contractor? Or something.

 

Maybe a baker. With magic it should be easy.

 

…

 

Right, Match and Roy. Matthew. Matthew and Roy.

 

I have to alert them, uh?

 

Blinking, they were clearly unsure of what had just happened, so it looked like a yes.

 

“The hunt has now begun.

And, as prey, we must run.”

 

There, nice and clear. It should be enough to… confuse both of them even more. Obviously.

 

“What? Hunt? Prey? Could you be a bit less obscure?” Roy’s voice was enough to make me shake away the temptation of simply slipping into sleep, however temporarily, and try to explain myself.

 

“Wild Hunt is a like a curse that will never quit

Until they have reached us and got their last hit.

They are the Fae’s greatest weapon and danger

In any situation, the biggest game changer.

They’ll follow us anywhere without pause.

They’ll attack until we’ve died on their jaws.”

 

“Well, at least we know that he can say things longer than two sentences?” Match’s voice – he was still in his mask – was forcibly light and, as I suspected was his plan, removed almost all of the tension from us and Captain Marvel.

 

Wait, what? When did he get here?

 

Right, we saved Billy Batson and I tried to direct him towards the others. It seemed it worked, nice to know.

 

“Well, that’s not good. Also, I think you should get away from here.” The voice of the Captain attracted our attention, harder and way less friendly than before. But he wasn’t looking at us, but at the portal opening over the five fainted villains.

 

The portal was circular, rippling like a pond, dark and stormy in look. And something was trying to get out of it. Something that looked a lot like a hound’s muzzle.

 

“Man-worked iron and steel offer good protection

Against the faeries’ tricks, magicks and inspection.

I suggest we take the first train to avoid detection.”

 

“My Wisdom of Solomon seems to be in agreement with what the young boy just said. Also, I suggest you try to find some cold iron to make into protective talismans or similar. But, even if I wanted you to stay and wait for the League – you should be rewarded, after all – you have to go. Get to the station and take the first train that goes out.” The order was enough for all of us to stiffen, my exhaustion chased away for the moment, while Roy had jumped to an almost military salute, before recovering.

 

Matthew was currently floating a foot in the air, looking around with worried eyes, a frown on his face and a hand rubbing his ear. “Yeah, uh… I think we should do what the Captain said and shake a leg. Who knows what kind of new adventure awaits us?”

 

He flinched when Roy and I both looked at him, probably reminding him of what kind of adventure our first train ride brought us to. Still, we didn’t have the strength to stay and fight head to head against an unstoppable, magical assault force, so…

 

“If it’s not one thing… Fine! Match, take us to the first train that is departing from the city now, then see if our things are still in the other train. If so, see if you can manage to get it, if not, just come back as quickly as you can.”

 

“Aye, aye, Cap’n! I’ll be as fast as… I dunno, the Flash? Well, maybe not as fast as him, but, you know. Similar.” He shrugged, the tension of the whole situation disappearing for a moment, before the barking of dogs coming from the portal brought us back to reality.

 

“Go! I’ll stall them as much as I can!”

 

Match whipped us away before Captain Marvel finished his sentence, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

 

I had read about the Wild Hunt. I knew enough to be scared stiff by it and not enough to know how to solve this whole situation. So being around metal worked by humans, even if it wasn’t cold iron, did a fair bit to calm me down.

 

And as the adrenaline subsided, the exhaustion crept up to me once again, darkness encroaching the sides of my vision.

 

I slid down a train wall, landing on the ground. A cargo train once again, it seemed. Roy was in front of me, mask removed and eyes bloodshot with tiredness. His gaze landed on me and he kept it for a few seconds, before nodding and sliding down, too, head thrown back and pressed against the metal of the car.

 

“What a day, uh?” His voice was low, almost a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear it. I could only nod at him, eyelids heavy. It was a struggle to keep them open even for a moment more.

 

“First, the train. Then the whole fight against a ghost, a pumpkin head and a ghost. Then, an asylum straight out of a horror game, complete with a boss fight in the basement. And, finally, what sounds a lot like a legend came to life just to hunt us.” He ended with a rueful chuckle, shaking his head.

 

“Let’s just hope that tomorrow will go better, eh?”

 

I fell asleep without being able to answer him.

 

*****************************************

 

I spent the next day in a daze, waking up and falling asleep again and again, barely able to remember what had happened.

 

I  _ think _ that I remember Matthew cradling me against his chest, feeding me something, but I couldn’t be sure. Roy looking out of a window, before saying something in a low voice. The rough and rumbling sound of the wheels over the train tracks. The rise and fall of the sun.

 

Then dawn hit me through the window, the light rose-colored and pale gold, waking me up from my dreamless sleep, eyes still heavy with the remains of exhaustion, but feeling much better.

 

It was an effort as natural as breathing that brought the diamond sphere I had created up to my hand, still perfect. Another one sent it in the air, looping above my head thrice, before I brought it back to hand level, using it to lever myself up.

 

I was in one of Matthew’s shirts, big enough to look like a dress on me, with only my underwear under it. Sticky with sweat. 

 

Ugh.

 

_ “Diamond shining, cold and white _

_ Cleanse everything with your light.” _

 

A white flash and everything around me – myself and the other two included – were now completely clean. Also awake.

 

“I’m up! I’m up! What was the question, teach? ...Why are you looking at me like that?” Matthew’s reaction was enough to forestall Roy’s, only making both of us look at him in uncertainty.

 

“Were you dreaming of being in  _ school _ ?” the redhead asked, his tone filled with disbelief.

 

“Yes?” Matthew’s words were pretty defensive, like he expected… what? 

 

“But… You’ve never been to school.” Roy seemed pretty confused. It was kinda strange, seeing that this was something that he confused him, beyond everything else.

 

“And?” His tone of voice was now a bit calmer, his posture less aggressive. He was just looking at Roy with a bit of a frown on his face.

 

“Well, nothing. It’s just a bit strange to hear that you were dreaming of a place you’ve never been. And, of all places, school. I mean, if I had to dream to be somewhere I never visited, I would have chosen… I dunno, somewhere nicer. Like Hawaii.”

 

Hawaii was an interesting place that I would like to see. Oh well.

 

Maybe we could go there for a getaway one of these days? If none of us died, got abducted, brainwashed, turned into a statue, lost in the timestream, lost in another dimension, lost in space, kidnapped, became a movie actor, turned into a statue, turned crazy or into a villain.

 

Yeah, it would be nice to visit Hawaii.

 

Wait, did I put turned into a statue twice on the list?

 

The train stopped almost too fast, sending all of us wobbling for a moment, before we managed to recover our balance. Roy looked out of the train, said something that I couldn’t understand – it was in another language, apparently – and turned towards us.

 

“Well, this is our last stop. We have arrived at the Sin City of America.”

 

I looked at him, kind of puzzled.

 

“You’re being kind of vagus.

Have we reached Las Vegas?”

 

He shook his head, before grabbing his backpack. “Worse.”

 

And he opened the door of the train, showing us a coastal city, the skyline dark and foreboding, with a prominent gothic imagery almost everywhere, dark smog hanging in the air and obscuring the sun, casting the whole place into a perpetual twilight and almost-evening light.

 

“Gotham.”

 

**********************************************

 

We sneaked out of the train station without attracting attention from anyone. Plus, I veiled us against the cameras, making us invisible to technological surveillance.

 

Because Batman.

 

We ended in an abandoned warehouse – we were spoiled for choice, honestly – one of the oldest ones, with the walls and roof made of metal sheets.

 

I was hoping that it would help mask us against the fae. If it failed, I had proposed the idea of an old church, hoping that the iron fence and the consecrated ground would help somehow. Even if I knew that the Fae weren’t demons, it was still worth a shot.

 

The main problem was that, beyond the use of cold iron, I didn’t have any idea on how to defeat the Wild Hunt. I think there was a way to appease them, but I couldn’t remember. And without access to a source of information, like a library or internet, I didn’t foresee the situation changing much in the near future.

 

“Why the long face?” Matthew’s voice shook me out of my funk, but I only answered him with a glare. Why the long face? Really?

 

“Ok, so we have some sort of magical assault force against us. It’s not like there isn’t any way to resolve the situation, no? It’s just difficult.”

 

I would’ve liked to have the same confidence that Matthew was displaying, but, if I was honest, my mood was more in line with Roy’s: ready to slam my head against the wall.

 

Speaking of Roy…

 

I turned towards the redhead, trying to see if he had moved from his position against the wall, deep in thought. Nope. Still there.

 

“Come on, guys! You two managed to free me and heal me while half drugged and under telepathic assault! Why are you getting worried about this? So they are almost invulnerable? Big deal!” Matthew’s voice rose a bit, before lowering again when Roy glared and shushed him. “Alex, you said that they were vulnerable to cold iron, no? Then let’s get some.”

 

I looked at him, before dropping my head in defeat.

 

“Not doing anything means remaining prey,

So, I’ll give it a shot doing things your way.”

 

“Attaboy! That’s the spirit!” Matthew crowed, grabbing me by my waist and turning in a circle, making my head – and the rest of my body – spin.

 

“Ok, ok. Put him down before he pukes. Alex, what else can you tell us about them?”

 

I had to take a few wobbling steps, before the room stopped spinning and I could focus again. Matthew’s happiness was to be feared.

 

“There’s a lot that I don’t know about

If we go with the fighting them route.

Never tell them your own name, to start

Unless you want them to take your heart.

Do not swear any vow or promises break

Or bound you’ll be and put to the stake.

Likewise they will be bound to their word

But as lawyers their words can be blurred.

Do not accept food or drinks from their land, their hands

Gifts or favours refuse, or you’ll be caught in their plans.”

 

I stopped talking after that, unsure of what more to say about it. I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Thankfully, it seemed enough for Roy, who was nodding at me. Matthew, on the other hand, was looking a bit confused, blinking and muttering something to himself.

 

“Ok. They have magic, I assume?” I answered with a nod. “Then you’re in charge of countering it. If you can find some cold iron, it would be great. If not, we’ll make do with normal iron and hope it will be enough. All the same, our next step is the library. Oh, and I need a new bow and arrows, so we’ll need to stop at a sports shop.”

 

“Another ‘Supply Run’?” Matthew’s voice came, low and conspirative, while he floated nearer, with a shady look to him. Or, well, his interpretation of a shady look. I blinked at him, while Roy scowled.

 

“No. No more theft. We’ll just… find a mugger or something, stop his mugging and recover the money that he had undoubtedly stolen from someone from his wallet.”

 

I looked at him, while Matthew nodded gravely.

 

“We’re mugging a mugger, got it.”

 

Roy’s refusal was loud enough that made the whole warehouse shake.

 

**************************************

 

With our plan established, we started our hunting. Cloaked by my spell and using Matthew’s hearing to find a crime that didn’t have either a bat or a bird presence around, we moved through the city.

 

It was… well, I wasn’t sure if the amount of crime that this city was experiencing was normal or if it was the heat of the approaching summer, but holy shit! That was a lot of crime!

 

On the other hand, it netted us a fair bit of cash that we could use to get what we needed. A real bow, for example, seeing that the one that I tried to create was, apparently, ‘Utter Garbage’, in Roy’s words. 

 

Well, then. Let’s see if I help you again.

 

Still, after getting a bow and arrows, we still had some more money to spend on something. I didn’t have any ideas, Roy didn’t want anything, so it was all for Matthew, assuming he wanted something.

 

“Okay! I’m going out!” And he left the warehouse, walking and whistling something.

 

Me and Roy watched him move away, before he turned to look at me, his eyes dark and serious. “This is going to bite us in the ass, isn’t it?”

 

I could only nod at him, before turning my back to Gotham and taking refuge back inside the warehouse. I was feeling a bit tired, keeping the cloaking spell up for that long was enough to bring my reserves of energy low enough that I couldn’t do much more.

 

Maybe a nap would help a bit? Yeah, a snack and then a nap.

 

***********************************

 

When I woke up, I found Roy bent over a map, a pen cap in his mouth and the pen tracing something on the paper under his hands. 

 

Once I got closer, it seemed to be… a series of lines and arrows.

 

“If you haven’t gone coo-coo

What are you trying to do?”

 

When he raised his head, his eyes were shining with… something. It wasn’t madness or folly, but it wasn’t happiness or anger. It was more like… the feeling when one had done a good job and was proud of himself.

 

“Ah, you woke up. Good. Once Matthew’s back, I’ll explain.”

 

“Someone called me?” Speak of the devil…

 

The door of the warehouse got pushed open and the clone of Superman walked in. He had bought different clothes, was snacking on something crunchy and brown and…

 

“Did you cut your hair?” I cocked my head to the side, looking at all the changes.

 

He had cut his hair all around the head, leaving only the top part long. A leather jacket, black jeans and a white t-shirt with the S-Shield underneath completed the look.

 

It kind of reminded me of the Original Young Justice comics.

 

“Yeah, I wanted to try. How do I look?”

 

I shot him two thumbs-up, while Roy nodded. “Good. The clothes?”

 

“Same as the hair. I wanted to try shopping.” He smiled, a bit guilelessly, before taking another… thing and crunching it under his teeth.

 

“What are you eating?” The redhead pointed to the bag, a strange look on his face. A moment later I understood why.

 

“Walnuts. Want some?” He took one and put it in his mouth, without removing the shell. After munching for a moment, he kept talking. “They’re good. Even if the outside is a bit flavorless.”

 

“That would be because you are eating the shell, which you need to remove before eating only the inside,” Roy said, a sardonic tilt to his voice, making Matthew stop eating and looking at the nuts he was holding in his hand. Then he looked at me and Roy.

 

After that, he shrugged and popped it in his mouth. “Meh.”

 

“...okay, then.” Roy clearly washed his hands of the whole thing, returning to his planning. Me, the sight of those walnuts had sparked something in my head. A memory of long time ago, something that I had read…

 

******************************

Unguento Unguento, portami al Noce di Benevento

Sopra l’Acqua, sopra il Vento e sopra ogni Maltempo.

******************************

 

Right! How could I forget that? I knew there was a way for me to fly, but I didn’t think it would be so… classical. Still, I couldn’t really pass on the opportunity.

 

“Do you have more of that seed?

I want to attempt a magic deed.”

 

“NO!” Roy’s shout was enough to make the wall shake… again, before he turned towards me and pointed his index finger at me. “No more experiments!”

 

I looked at him, my eyes unchanging, staring straight in his own. 

 

Stare.

 

Staaaare.

 

Staaaaaaaaaaare.

 

Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…

 

“Ugh, fine! But I’m going to be on the other side of the warehouse and you won’t come near me until you have made sure that whatever you are doing is safe, got it?!”

 

I nodded vigorously, before turning towards Matthew and gesturing at his bag of walnuts. He looked at me, before taking out a few more nuts and passing the rest of the bag to me.

 

“Yeah, I’m curious. What are you gonna try?” He plopped down on the air, legs crossed, walnuts in one hand while he started taking bites of them. I shivered a bit at the sound, but I did my best to shake it off and continue.

 

First things first, I need the basics. So…

 

_ “This walnut fruit, this walnut seed _

_ Turn into ointment with speed.” _

 

Purple magic flashed around me, my time turner starting to spin, before the walnuts inside the bag liquefied into a smooth, wood-brown balm. After this, I pricked my left pinkie with one of my canines and let three drops of blood fall into the paste. After that, it was time for the last step.

 

Putting the bag down, I moved on one corner of the warehouse, where I saw…. Yes!

 

Roy said something, but I was too busy focusing on the next step to listen to what he was saying. Also, he was pretty far away and I couldn’t hear him all that well.

 

So, I continued. While spreading the balm on my chosen implement, I started my chant.

 

_ “By witch’s work and walnut seed _

_ By words and act, now them heed! _

_ By magic's will and great might, _

_ Let this salve give them flight!” _

 

The broom started to shine purple.


	15. Chapter 15: In the meantime...

The glow was strong enough to light up the entire warehouse, the purple light shining like a small sun, while the broom slowly floated up, turning on its axis.

 

Soon, changes could be seen. I had applied the balm quite generously, hoping for a permanent effect, and the results were showing. First, the shaft got a bit longer, turning a bit crooked and more natural-looking than the factory perfect it had been before. After that, the color changed to a deep brown, instead of the sand yellow.

 

Then, the sorghum bristles shivered and lengthened to a proper end, thinning to a point at the end. Even the bands that kept them tied to the shaft changed, doubling and moving up and down, assuming a more leathery look.

 

In the end, the  [ broom ](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-vector/witches-broom-vector-260nw-535366654.jpg) slowly hovered in place, before descending and landing on the floor.

 

“It’s done?!” Roy’s voice came from the other end of the warehouse, hands cupped around his mouth to act as a makeshift megaphone. Instead of answering him, I opened my palm over the broom and did what I had wanted to do from the moment I read of it in Harry Potter.

 

“Time for a check-up.

Now, I command: Up!”

 

The broom trembled while a subtle purple shone around it, before shooting off like a bullet, slamming against the wall of the warehouse right next to Roy’s face. He had managed to move to the side fast enough to avoid getting hit.

 

“Yeah, it worked  _ really well _ .” His sarcastic remark was enough to make me glare at him, the broom falling to the ground with a clatter. He stepped over it, before walking towards me and Matthew, lips pressed in a thin line.

 

“At least this time, your experiment didn’t end with me injured any… What are you doing? OUCH!”

 

While he was walking I had extended my arm, hand open, towards him. After a moment, the broom came rocketing towards it, spinning wildly and hitting Roy on the back of his head with the shaft, making Matthew snicker and making me smile.

 

The broom reached my hand, the hit stinging a bit, but showing that I could control it without speaking. Now, to actually try and use it.

 

Once I tried to sit on it, though, I discovered another problem. Namely, I was a guy and this thing was made of solid wood. So, another spell was needed. Now, how to word it so that it would be permanent…

 

_ “To let me fly high and free _

_ Make it comfortable to only me _

_ So that I can fly as I wish to do _

_ I enchant it, permanently, anew.” _

 

Purple lightning lanced from my fingers, circling around the broom for a few moments, before sinking into the wood and giving it a darker color.

 

Trying to sit on it once again, it gave much better results. this time there was something that felt like a cushion over the shaft of the broom, erasing all the pain that I felt at first. I would be sore if I rode it for long periods of time, that was for sure, but nothing more than if I was travelling by car.

 

With a sort of trepidation that came when I was close to fulfilling one of my dreams, I grabbed the handle of the broom more closely and started to hover upward. A moment later, I was halfway towards the roof.

 

So far, so good. Now, trying to move…

 

Going slowly was easy, I was being careful so the risk of an accident was pretty low. After a minute, of gaining confidence with how the broom reacted to me, I started going faster.

 

And faster.

 

After a few seconds of exhilarating flight, my grip slipped away, the floor coming closer in an instant.

 

I closed my eyes, waiting for the painful landing – on my head – that was approaching faster than I could do anything to save myself. Any moment now and I would hit the concrete…

 

Any moment now….

 

Any moment…

 

Well?

 

“Try to not make a habit of falling, I could not be there next time, ok?” Matthew’s voice came from near me, and when I opened my eyes, I saw him in all his glory right in front of my face. He had grabbed me before I could meet the floor, saving my head to being split open like an egg.

 

“To give credit where it’s due,

From my heart, I thank you.”

 

“Aw, shucks.” He actually said that. I blinked at him, unsure what to say. “It’s nothing. We’re friends! And I’m sure that you would do the same for me.”

 

True.

 

I nodded, before he put me back down on the floor, where a smug Roy was looking at me. I didn’t say anything, while he returned to his map, gloating.

 

Well, that only meant that I had more time to refine the whole construction thing. I could simply add a part of the spell that didn’t allow me to fall.

 

… and a shield against the air pressure and wind in my face over a certain threshold. After that, what else could be useful? Mmhhh…

 

While I knew that I couldn’t think of everything, trying to come up with answers for most things I could think of would have to be enough.

 

So, shield against air, sticking feature, comfort… what else? Auto-recall in case of a fall. Turbo option in case of an emergency.

 

….can’t think of anything else. Let’s just put these on before anything else.

 

***************************

 

It took me a couple hours and the remaining balm to actually put all the improvements that I wanted in it, before I hit some sort of barrier. Something told me that I couldn’t fit anything more without damaging the whole broom.

 

I stopped at five improvements. Comfort, Sticking, Windshield, Auto Recall, and Turbo. I wanted to fit in a Shield, but I couldn’t.

 

Oh well. I’d improve the second model when I have time. For now, it seemed that Roy had concluded his plan of attack.

 

I was scared to discover who his target was, but he had concluded it all the same.

 

“Ok, I’ve done what I could. I managed to find more information, but not all that much. Sadly, the internet has a lot of contradictions. Still, I have found several common points. Which is good.”

 

He turned towards us, after opening the map and pinning it to its corners with some weights he found around. “The bad news was that most of them were the same that Alex gave us. Still, the new point could be useful.” Leaning back against a part of the remaining scaffolding, he looked at us, deadly serious. “It seems that a Lord or Lady of the Fae can call back the Wild Hunt.”

 

Well, that was new to me. Still.

 

“Lord or Lady of the Fae Court?

It’ll be difficult to get their support.”

 

“Yes. That was the other bad thing that I found in my research. So that leaves us with Plan B: Defeating them. I have studied the map of the city and I’m reasonably sure that we can win enough times. And, if we manage to pull it out, we can… force them to talk or something.”

 

I… was pretty sure that he didn’t believe his own words. Matthew clearly didn’t and I heard the number of ifs and buts that he put in his sentence.

 

Still, it was the best idea that any of us had, so… we decided to go with his plan.

 

“Well, I am at a loss,

So… you’re the boss.”

 

“Sure. So, what’s the first part of our plan?” Matthew looked at me, before looking at Roy and nodding. The redhead, instead of looking relieved, audibly gulped, before nodding – to himself – and gestured us towards the map.

 

The poor piece of paper was completely covered in lines, arrows, scribbles and annotations. I only glanced for a moment, before looking at Roy, whose eyes seemed to radiate some sort of feverish energy.

 

Oohhhh boy.

 

****************************************

 

Sunset was way more colorful in Gotham than in any other places. Mostly because of the pollution and smog.

 

The sky turned a golden orange with streaks of purple, pink, green and white in a rainbow that radiated from the sun while it slowly sunk into the bay.

 

We chose a place for a ‘trap’ – really, just a place where we stacked as many advantages we could – inside an old warehouse, even older than the place where we were squatting, with all windows and doors blocked with metal sheets welded together, to be sure that someone couldn’t sneak in from behind us.

 

After that, we – I said we, but it was really Matthew that did all the work – removed all that remained inside the warehouse, before preparing a pile of crates containing rusted nails and other iron objects inside them and putting them at the center.

 

The plan was to attract them in this specific warehouse, until they were under the pile of crates and then make them fall.

 

In theory, that would cause the iron to hit them and defeat them.  _ In theory _ .

 

And that was the plan.

 

……………………..

 

It was a stupid plan. I knew it. Matthew knew it.  **Roy** knew it.

 

It was  _ also _ the only plan we had. So we went with it, hoping it would actually work, or, failing that, we could manage to eke out a win all the same. It was kind of a Hail Mary, but we didn’t have many other choices.

 

We could go to the JLA. But that would mean bringing our problems to their doorstep and Roy was determined to clean our own messes before appearing in front of them. Pride.

 

Let’s just hope that it wouldn’t be our downfall.

 

***********************************************

 

After we completed the preparation, the only thing left was to wait. The boring part of the plan.

 

No one of us could actually try to lighten the mood, the way Roy was focusing was honestly pretty scary. I was sitting at the top of the pile of crates, while Matthew was floating at my side, looking pretty uncomfortable.

 

Every now and then – following the orders of our archer leader – I scried the outside of the warehouse, trying to not get scried in return and to avoid getting all of us caught by surprise.

 

It was playing merry hell on my nerves, that was for sure.

 

Then, Matthew – Match, we were wearing our masks – stilled, before gesturing to us to get closer.

 

“I can hear someone. Three people. Young. Coming this way.”

 

Awesome. Because  **that** was  _ exactly _ what we needed, three teenagers messing with something they didn’t understand. Luckily, I had a way to resolve the situation before it became a situation.

 

"Hide away, be noise-free

I'll take care of those three."

 

Both Arsenal and Match looked at me, before nodding slowly. They vanished in the shadows near the roof, while I remained on the top of the crates, slowly collecting my energy. I had to go for a quick and mostly painless take-down, so…

 

Ah, got it.

 

“Man, I can’t believe we didn’t manage to save that reporter!”

 

“Pipe down Kid Flash! We could be heard.”

 

Oh, come on! Really?!

 

Young Justice. Here. Of course. Because our luck couldn’t be good for once.

 

Still, wait. Match said three. Must be… Mmhh, what day it is? Let’s see… one day for escaping, another two for travelling, one day to resolve the clusterfuck in  Fawcett, another one to reach Gotham and a last one to prepare all of this.

 

So, six days from when the whole Junior League got created. That… doesn’t tell me anything. Well, yes. It tells me that I only have Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad to neutralize before they spring our traps or, even worse, get caught in the fight against the Wild Hunt.

 

Ok, so. Three targets. I had to disable them quickly. The fact that they were superheroes muddled things a bit, but the only one that had some magical training was Aqualad and even then, it’s mostly combat magic, as far as I could remember from the show.

 

Better start, then.

 

_ “Robin, Aqualad ,and Kid Flash, _

_ This won’t be a drawn-out clash. _

_ Instead, I’ll down you rather cheap, _

_ I command you all: now go to sleep.” _

 

Then I breathed out through the triangle formed by my index fingers and thumbs, while my other fingers were splayed out. A deep purple mist filled the whole warehouse in moments.

 

Then, three thumps could be heard.

 

“The deed is done,

The battle’s won.”

 

“Well, that was easy. Magic is sure convenient.” I was already shaking my head at Arsenal’s words, signalling that it wasn’t that easy.

 

“It was easy because they didn’t start a fight.

If they did, they wouldn’t fall to my rite.”

 

“Got it. Still, a good opening move for an ambush. Do you think it would work on the Hunt?” I shook my head at that. I was almost certainly sure that they would be either immune or highly resistant to sleep spells. Or spells in general.

 

I would need to fight using elemental effects, which would be better. I hoped.

 

“Damn. Then our plan’s unchanged from before. Still...” Arsenal pointed at the three crumpled forms of the side… young heroes on the floor. “What are we gonna do with them? If they remain here, they will be caught in our mess.”

 

I nodded at that, followed by Match. It was true. Then Match blinked.

 

“I could take them away? Someplace safe, maybe?”

 

I think I bluescreened for a moment, the words ‘safe’ and ‘Gotham’ used together didn’t really compute, but I came back fairly quickly, seeing Roy nodding and pointing at a spot on the map that he had unrolled from one of the pockets on his belt.

 

“The Wayne Industries building. If there is a safe building in this city, it’s that one. Just make sure that they won’t accidentally fall off the roof and we’re golden.” 

 

The Kryptonian nodded, before grabbing the trio and starting to move. “Got it, boss!”

 

“And make haste! We don’t want to be caught unaware!” Arsenal’s shout was almost loud enough to be heard outside the warehouse and loud enough that Match had caught it.

 

Now, once again, we waited.

 

**************************************

 

Dawn came. Dawn came without any apparition from the Wild Hunt. That should have been a good thing.

 

It wasn’t. When the rays of the sun hit the door of the warehouse, we were all tensed like a violin string. Roy jumping at shadows, I was exhausted by the continued attempts at scrying – and veiling all of us from Batman, which was harder than the scrying – and Matthew… well, Matthew was still himself. A bit less cheery, but still himself.

 

Which was a good thing.

 

“Well, tonight was a bust. Oh, right, while I was takeing the trio to the Wayne Industries building, I saw this cafè near the pier. It seemed nice, so do you want to go and get breakfast there?” He was smiling, the mask around his neck, lazily floating on his back in front of us.

 

Me and Roy looked at each other, before we both shrugged and nodded.

 

“Sure. Alex, can you take care of our costumes?” I nodded again, fighting a yawn, and murmured a short rhyme and snapped my fingers.

 

Suddenly we wore what we’ve started to consider our work clothes, mostly sports equipment altered and strengthened with a series of spells from yours truly.

 

******************************

 

Breakfast was pretty good and, thanks to the very early hour, we were basically the only people around the place. That allowed us to talk and relax without risking anyone overhearing us.

 

It was nice and something that we absolutely needed. Destressing after such a mission was fundamental for our mental health.

 

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how long we would be able to sustain the tension. If the Hunt didn’t attack soon – to confirm that we were actually hunted and that they didn’t simply take the Horror Five for their presumption to call them – the need to always keep our attention on our surroundings would reduce us to wrecks.

 

If only we had thought of grabbing a way to communicate with Captain Marvel before our escape... 

 

But it did seem that the hunt was starting to come after us, so it wasn’t like we had the time to actually do that. Still, it was something that I could hope for.

 

Not that I actually believed that it happened that way. Still…

 

“Come on, stop with the long faces! We survived another day, we defeated three young heroes, we are eating a pretty good breakfast and we are seeing a kick-ass dawn. Live a little!” Matthew’s voice shocked me out of my reverie, before he crammed a brioche in my hands and put a cup of hot chocolate in front of me.

 

Maybe he was right. Maybe I  _ should _ try to be more optimistic.

 

Yeah, it was something all of us needed to be careful about, but not at the point of letting all of our lives revolve around it!

 

Everything was gonna be good.

 

***************************************

 

**Seven days later, 17th of July**

 

Everything was going to hell.

 

The constant possibility of an attack started to grate on our nerves as soon as we woke up after sleeping after that breakfast, seven days ago.

 

At first, everything was normal. However, soon we started jumping at shadows, hearing sounds that weren’t really there and our sleep got more and more disrupted, less restoring.

 

We were all irritable, tired, and snippy with each other. Roy had fallen into an uneasy silence, frequently fiddling with his right arm, trawling the internet for more information. As for me, I had bloodshot eyes from the missing sleep and was also pretty short on my temper, only answering in the shortest thymes that I could say to any question, passing the remaining time in silence.

 

Matthew was the one that had managed to resist this entire atmosphere the longest between us three. Still, in the end, even he succumbed to it, slowly turning more and more sullen, with expressions of rage that often destroyed the warehouse where we were squatting for those eight hours.

 

Twice Batman and Robin had almost found us and it was only thanks to a quick spell from me and Matthew’s flight that we managed to avoid detection. Roy, in the meantime, was wavering between wanting to call the League and dealing with this problem alone.

 

Teenage pride, fear and something else, I believed was the cause. Not that I blamed him, not really. This whole situation was… maddening.

 

Still, everything started to fall in the right way one day later, after we had constructed our latest trap, ironically reusing the original warehouse. It was still abandoned, still deserted and, luckily, still untouched. Even the same crates we had used the first time were there, all stacked at the center.

 

“Ok, this is enough!” Matthew’s outburst made us turn towards him, both of us puzzled. He was usually pretty restrained after destroying something, like he was using it to discharge his emotions. This time, though, he hadn’t smashed a wall or something, so why…?

 

“This is getting ridiculous! We haven’t talked to each other in more than a day, we are all tenser than a violin string and if this whole thing continues, we won’t be able to fight the Hunt! We need to calm down and actually talk to each other! We need something to remove the tens-” He stopped abruptly.

 

Completely.

 

He smiled, almost evilly. “And I know what to do.”


	16. Chapter 16: The Chapter where Errors are Made.

 

“Oh, really?” Roy’s voice was clipped and short, glaring at Match, his hair frazzled and sticking in every direction. Matthew grinned at him, before pointing towards the only door of the warehouse.

 

“A group of young heroes are coming this way. Three of them are people that we have already met.”

 

Roy and I both froze, before turning towards the entrance. This… I didn’t expect this. Why where they here? Why wasn’t Batman stopping them?

 

“So? What’s the plan?” The redhead scoffed, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall, his stare piercing as he looked at Matthew.

 

“A little sparring won’t hurt anyone, won’t it?” His grin was still a bit evil and I must admit that the idea was tempting. Even just for the relaxation that actually doing something would accomplish. Maybe it would give us a fresher point of view on this whole situation.

 

“Forget it. I’m not going to get involved in another incident like the Station Distraction that we used to take the first train. It clearly doesn’t work for us. Maybe we should just… talk to them.” 

 

Ok, point for Roy. Starting a fight wouldn’t look very heroic, especially if it was the Team.

 

“Come on! It will be a nice way to see how strong and skilled they are! A way to destress and to create some bonds. And, after that, win or lose won’t matter much, no? We can just simply talk with them and maybe ask for help.”

 

Uuuhhh… maybe it was the mental tiredness, but the argument sounded… kinda logical. Roy seemed to think like that, too, before simply shaking his head like a dog.

 

“No! What the hell was I thinking? No. We talk to them like civilized people. I’m sure that if we explain what is happening everything will go...”

 

“‘So, what’s the plan, Leader?’

 

‘Robin, you enter from the back and lay in wait until Superboy makes contact. Kid Flash, you’ll attack right after him, while me and Miss Martian will support you from behind. While they are distracted, Robin will take them down with the sleeping gas.’

 

‘Sounds good. I can’t wait to get a bit of revenge for what they did last week’

 

‘Kid Flash, just because…’” 

 

“Stop.”

 

Matthew stopped relaying what he was saying, having accurately mimicked the voices of the speakers, a smile on his face. Roy, on the other hand, didn’t look happy. More like he had bitten a really sour lemon.

 

“So, what you’re basically saying is that there is no way for us to open a non-violent line of dialogue. Awesome.”

 

The redhead looked around the place, like he was trying to find any other solution that wasn’t fighting.

 

Well, we could escape. With Matthew’s powers, we could simply blow a hole in the walls or the roof of the place and fly away, but that would attract attention. A lot of it. And from Batman.

 

Plus, it would wreak havoc on our plans to trap the hunt and that was… yeah.

 

Basically, we were in a really bad position, strategically speaking.

 

The redhead was looking around, his face a mask of unwillingness, clearly not wanting to accept this. I was a bit more… resigned, I think is the right word. I was pretty sure that there was a solution that I wasn’t able to see and that in the future would probably be obvious, but right now… nothing. The only three solutions that came to mind were either fight, surrender or escape.

 

All three would cause some problems. If we surrendered instantly, the League could be called. But in the meantime the Hunt could attack us and the Team. If we escaped, the Hunt could hit us from behind. If we fought, we could either win or lose, but we would absolutely be worse off if the Hunt used the moment of weakness to strike at us.

 

The best option seemed to be the surrender one, actually.

 

The only problem was… I really didn’t want to. I know that it was childish and, frankly, stupid of me, but after the week I had just experienced the idea of surrendering to people that could be half my age was… grating. Like salt and lemon on raw nerves.

 

And, judging by the way Roy was grinding his teeth, I could see that it was grating at him, too.

 

“Fuck. Ok. We should surrender. It’s the smart thing to do,” the archer spat out, his fist clenched so hard that we could hear the crack of his bones. Matthew looked at him, before turning at me I shrugged in answer and nodded, making him deflate.

 

“Are you sure? I mean, a bit of sparring could probably help us shed this stress. A bit of exercise to get the blood flowing, maybe getting some ideas on how to find the Fae...” he insisted, his voice making his proposition sound pretty interesting.

 

Almost unwillingly, I turned towards Roy, catching the glimmer of ‘Want’ in his eyes, with him biting his teeth. He was crumbling, I was crumbling and Matthew knew this. I wasn’t sure why he was so adamant on fighting the Team, but for now the whole thing was… irrelevant.

 

If we fought it was very probable that the entire thing would work as exercise, thus releasing endorphins and lowering our stress significantly. Exactly like Matthew said.

 

“We… We need to be the mature ones. We can’t just… just...” Roy trembled while saying this, before slowing down in silence, his gaze washing over us. Matthew was still smiling, now a more subdued tilt of his head. 

 

“I… We…  **That’s**   **IT**! Rhyme, connect us.” The redhead’s exploded, pointing at me.

 

I blinked in surprise, before nodding slowly, magic already coming to me while I spoke.

 

_“Eye to eye, heart to heart_

_Here or infinitely apart_

_Let us speak without voice_

_Let us hear only by choice.”_

 

The mental connection bloomed into existence, Roy and Matthew’s minds as near as they could be while still being the same person: Roy’s laser-like focus, Matthew’s strength…

 

What did I bringing to the table?

 

<Alright, here’s the situation.> A stream of… consciousness, maybe? Something similar to that flowed in my head. It was both knowledge and emotion, something that would be extremely difficult to put into words.

 

It was… stress, and fatigue, and excitement, and impatience, and fear, and a hundred more emotions, all mixed together with words, flowing one within another, colors without names mixing together to form coherent pictures of abstract thoughts.

 

After a few seconds, everything stopped. The flood of thoughts had had the time to come to us and flow back, my and Matthew’s thoughts mixed within, forward and back, again and again, like the tide, moving between us three until we had a viable plan.

 

“That was new.” The Kryptonian voice sounded almost alien to our ears, the eternity-second of being thought-linked having rewritten our own perception of reality, having shown us another plane that usually would…

 

“Stop with your poeticism, please. We have heroes incoming in a few seconds.” Roy’s voice jerked me out of my reverie, once again, making me pay attention.

 

<Sorry. I was distracted.>

 

“We Know!” both of them answered together, before grinning. I pouted back at them. The tension we could feel before had vanished under our connection. And, with a pang of regret that echoed from the other two, I severed the thought-link spell.

 

“Very well everyone. You all know what to do. The Team will be here in a few minutes, so we need to be ready. I’ll take care of Robin, he will be forced to make some noise while entering, as all the entrances are barred. Match, you take care of Superboy. Get some family time. Rhyme, are you sure that you can stall the others? Going solo against a martian, an atlantean and a speedster is no joke.”

 

I nodded in answer, already thinking on how to block them. I had an amusing idea…

 

My smile must have shown, because Arsenal rolled his eyes and let the whole thing go. “Very well then. Everyone, mask up. We’re starting.”

 

And we moved to position.

 

**********************************

 

I was resting on top of the pile of crates, my broom hidden behind me, Match floating over me, flat against the ceiling, hidden by the dark. Arsenal was hidden… somewhere, not sure where.

 

While trying not to hyperventilate, I was thinking back on our plan. First, Match would tackle Superboy before he could hit me. Then I would entrap Kid Flash and the other two once they entered. To do that, I had painted a pretty big circle in front of the pile of crates, taking all the space available, to channel my mental image better.

 

If it worked, it would be hilarious. For us.

 

“Incoming. Showtime.” Arsenal’s voice came with a whisper through the new communicators that he had prepared while we were getting ready for the Hunt. 

 

The door of the warehouse got sent flying as a superpowered teenage clone-son of the most powerful alien on earth with one of the most powerful supervillains ‘knocked’ on it. And, instantaneously, locked on me.

 

Without saying anything, he crouched a bit, muscles tensing, before jumping towards me, fist already cocked back and a murderous look firmly in place, before morphing into something a bit more confused when he actually registered that I was a child. First mistake.

 

Then Match hit him mid-jump and both went rocketing outside. I used this moment to start chanting.

 

Kid Flash entered before I had even spoken the first word, but he stopped in confusion when he saw that Superboy wasn’t there. Then he saw me.

 

“Who are...”

 

I didn’t give him the time to say anything else.

 

_“Forward, backward, inward, outward_

_Come and join the chase!_

_Nothing could be drier_

_Than a jolly caucus-race.”_

 

Kid Flash looked at me like I went stark raving mad, but he started running before he could really process what was happening. To be precise, he was running in a circle, following the shape that I had painted on the floor.

 

“What the hell is happeeeening to meee….” And the more he ran, the faster he went.

 

_“Backward, forward, outward, inward_

_Bottom to the top,_

_Never a beginning_

_There can never be a stop.”_

 

“Well, I’ll be damned. I didn’t think that it would really work.” Arsenal’s voice echoed from the communicator. I simply smirked, keeping up with my chant, basking in the fact that, up until now, the plan had worked.

 

_“To skipping, hopping, tripping, clopping_

_Fancy, free, and gay,_

_I started it tomorrow,_

_but I'll finish yesterday.”_

 

“Robin incoming. Prepare for an explosion in two, one...” The sound of the metal exploding came from behind me, but I couldn’t let myself be distracted. I had to keep the spell going.

 

Before Robin could do anything else, several arrows whizzed over my head, keeping him at bay, and, more importantly, away from me.

 

_“Round and round and round we go_

_And dance forevermore,_

_Once we were behind_

_But now we find we are before!”_

 

Kid Flash was speeding up now, his body a simple trail of yellow, when Aqualad sprinted inside, water bearers already drawn out and shining with blue light, electricity crackling around.

 

Not that it helped him: Kid Flash hit him before he could say or do anything, sending him flying inside the circle. And catching him in my spell.

 

_“Forward, backward, inward, outward,_

_Come and join the chase!_

_Nothing could be drier than a jolly caucus-race!”_

 

Aqualad started running too, in the opposite direction than Kid Flash, who was starting to go even faster, the circle under their feet shining purple, while I kept singing my spell over and over, keeping them out of the fight.

 

There was just one thing that I hadn’t considered: Kid Flash’s speed. And him running into a circle. Soon, the wind picked up and a twister started to form, which caused problems for me – I was starting to run out of breathable air, with it being absorbed into the mini-tornado – and to Aqualad, who was inside the circle and much nearer to the sucking forces of the winds.

 

He tried to resist, but between my spell forcing him to run – and thus disrupting his focus – and the speed of the winds, he got flung away, out of the warehouse. Right after that, I had to stop chanting, the air simply too thin for me to continue.

 

Kid Flash stopped almost immediately, panting and huffing, body drenched with sweat, looking like he had drunk enough alcohol to make him dizzy.

 

Running in a circle will do that to you.

 

“Whoa… I need to sit. What the hell did you do to us, you creepy child?” the teenage superhero asked, slurring his words and trying to actually put his feet one in front of the other.

 

“My powers are very unique

Magic is the answer you seek.”

 

“Magic doesn’t exist. And why are you talking in rhyme?” Kid Flash scowled at me, still too disoriented to actually attack me. From behind me, I could hear the sound of batarangs and arrows flying around, the clanking of metal and the sounds of two bodies fighting.

 

“I always talk in rhyme, it is my curse

No word I can utter that it’s not in verse.”

 

“That sounds stupid. And fake. Like magic.” Really? Really? You are going there? Resorting to childish arguments? Very well.

 

_“Rhyme it well and rhyme it true,_

_Turn their skin from pink to blue.”_

 

See? I can be childish, too. The bolt of purple lightning managed to hit Kid Flash before he managed to move, thanks to the dizzying effect of the Caucus Race.

 

“AAAAR-uh? Ah, you missed!” He crowed at me, smiling, when he didn’t feel any pain.

 

When I smiled back at him, he suddenly became a lot less secure of himself.

 

“I think you’ll lose your grin

Once you check your skin.”

 

With some trepidation, he removed his glove and stared at his hand. And stared. And stared some more.

 

“You… you turned my skin blue. Why did you turn my skin blue?”

 

I smiled at him and his confusion, without answering. Truth was, I did it just because.

 

“Kid Flash, focus!” Aqualad’s voice came from the outside, before a tangle of bodies slammed against the warehouse, through the metal walls and on the ground between me and the teen hero. Then, two teenagers got thrown away.

 

Superboy hit Kid Flash and both went skidding out of the warehouse, while Aqualad hit the wall, the metal crumpling a bit behind him, before sliding down and landing on the ground. I was a bit alarmed at that, but he didn’t seem too damaged. Good.

 

We didn’t want to actually hurt them. Too much.

 

It was sparring.

 

The sound of a batarang hitting something and exploding in mid air was enough to make me return to the here and now, returning my attention to the present situation.

 

Match was hovering in front of the open door of the warehouse, while Aqualad was looking at him with a look of shock on his face. Superboy recovered incredibly fast, reappearing on the threshold with a look of confusion and anger directed towards Match.

 

“Who are you?” the atlantean asked, almost unconsciously, while Superboy simply growled and threw himself at Match, who met him head on.

 

They ended grappling each other and rolling on the floor like children. I was pretty sure that Match was smiling behind his mask, treating this whole situation as a game.

 

Seeing that this was supposed to be sparring… But I was getting distracted once again. Aqualad was climbing back on his feet and if he interfered with their fight, things could start to spiral out of control. So I had to stop him.

 

I briefly entertained the thought of using his own water against him, but I remembered that he used magic to control it, so he would have probably protected them against outside magic. That meant plan number two.

 

_“If I said it once, I’ve said it twice_

_Your shadow has you in a vise.”_

 

I waved my hand towards him and his own shadow rose from the ground and wrapped itself around him like a snake, starting to squeeze. That should keep him occupied for a few sec…

 

Aaaaaand Kid Flash had just sped him away. Of course. The spell wasn’t connected straight to me, so enough distance and it would fall apart.

 

At least it did its job and kept him out of the fight. There’s that.

 

Match and Superboy were still rolling on the floor, their clothes starting to rip in several points, showing unmarred skin and muscles bulging with power, as the two superhumans teen wrestled with one another...

 

I felt a flush rise on my cheeks, before attempting to turn my eyes, only to end up looking at them again. The whole thing was something that was… well, let’s just say that I was grateful that my body was young enough that couldn’t display any physical reaction. My mind, on the other hand, was much more interested.

 

Then something probed my mind. And I remembered Miss Martian.

 

Specifically, the fact that she could turn invisible.

 

Luckily for me, the thought veiling spell was the one that I kept on at all times. Unluckily, her attempts were way stronger than the G-Gnomes, forcing me to focus exclusively on her attempt. That was unacceptable.

 

I had to keep guard for the return of Kid Flash and Aqualad and I couldn’t do that if I had to fight Miss Martian at the same time. Honestly, I was surprised that we had managed to remain in play this long: I could have bet that we would have gone down in the first minute.

 

All the same, I had to resolve this whole thing now. How to do that? Mmh…

 

Well, she was trying to read my thoughts… and she had a crush on Superboy…

 

Evil ideas sprung to mind, one in particular. And I even had such perfect material to work with right in front of me, how could I say no?

 

Granted, I was pretty sure that this wouldn’t work, but I couldn’t really think of another way to stop her from probing my thoughts, so. A deluge of explicit slash fantasies about the two teenage hunks rolling erotically on the floor in front of us was my weapon of choice.

 

I idly wondered why she hadn’t simply attacked me with TK, but judging by the fact that she was still invisible, maybe she was on reconnaissance? Information finding or something. Well, good for me. Now.

 

With my dirty thought-bomb prepared, I lowered my defenses, pushed the thing at her and raised them again. I could only hope that beyond trying to pry into my mind, she was still…

 

Kid Flash, who had just returned, stopped in his tracks, the visible part of his face turning green, while Superboy stuttered in his fight. From behind me, I heard the sound of someone hitting the wall and landing on the ground, before an arrow hit metal.

 

They still had the mind link active. Good for us, less good for them. That meant that my mental counterattack hit all of them.

 

Match and Arsenal managed to use this moment of distraction and overthrew their opponents. Match sent Superboy flying against Kid Flash once again, while Arsenal seemingly managed to tag Robin and, finally, conk him out of the fight.

 

That left me with Miss Martian.

 

_“The martian with skin green,_

_let all hear her and be seen.”_

 

My magic washed over the place with a wave of purple, before the still blushing figure of the green alien appeared, her invisibility cancelled.

 

She was still blushing. It was honestly adorable.

 

“Be more careful when you pry,

Who knows what you’ll spy.”

 

“What? You did that on purpose?!” she screeched, her voice rising in pitch at the end of the sentence, her cheeks turning an even deeper green. I shrugged at that, before pointing towards her.

 

“If you explore the secrets of the mind

You don’t know what you will find.”

 

“That… that doesn’t… what you… I’m… You!” She was incoherent. I didn’t expect that my little thought-show would have that much effect, honestly. Still, an opportunity was an opportunity.

 

_“If I said it once, I said it twice_

_Your shadow has you in a vise.”_

 

Her own shadow jumped up from the ground, wrapping around her like a snake and starting to squeeze, exactly like what happened to Aqualad.

 

I was starting to be cautiously optimistic about this whole thing. In hindsight, that should have been the first sign that something was going to go completely and utterly wrong.

 

The wall exploding inwards was less than I feared, honestly.


	17. Chapter 17: Blood sings True.

On the other hand,  **the reason** why the wall caved in was enough to make my whole body go stiff with terror.

 

Red hair with a white streak, dressed in what wouldn’t be amiss on a college professor, a sword sheathed on his back, another sword at his waist and hand alight with magical energy, Jason Blood stood there.

 

Everything froze.  **I** froze.

 

Looking around, I tried to see the situation from outside eyes. A skill that I’ve always had, even before coming in this world.

 

There was me, sitting on a stack of crates, contents unknown to others, looking down. Two teenagers that, were it not for the mask one was wearing, could have been twins. A green, female Martian locked in shackles made of her own shadow. Kid Flash, looking nauseous and uncomfortable, one hand against the wall, supporting himself. Aqualad had managed to come back inside the warehouse, but he still looked a bit out of breath.

 

I glanced behind me.

 

Oh, and Robin, his cape pinned at the wall, one foot extended against the chest of Arsenal, trying to bite his arm, while Roy was keeping him away, the same expression that uncountable babysitters and older brothers had worn when faced with similar situations.

 

And everyone was looking at Jason Blood, who… was looking at me.

 

“So. You are the one that had used so much demon-tainted magic in the city for the past week. I admit that you made yourself hard to find, but you should know that trying to pass unobserved under my… what?”

 

Maybe it was my expression or something, but he stopped and looked at me with a curious look on his face. I... wasn’t sure what to say, honestly, so I simply… looked at him.

 

“You… what? Do I have something on my face?” Blood asked, when he met my stare. I shook my head.

 

Honestly, the situation was approaching such surreality that I wasn’t sure how to react.

 

“Ahem, moving on… While your use of magic to deflect me was pretty good, you also transmitted your own position when you started fighting. Really, you have almost no control of your own...” he trailed off.

 

“You… are a child.”

 

No, really? I wasn’t aware. My expression turned completely flat, before I answered him.

 

“On that, we can agree.

It is plain to see.”

 

“I mean that you are a real child, not a demon that looks like… Why did you talk in rhyme?” Jason Blood, confused. I didn’t know how things would have gone if I’d ever met him, but I really didn’t expect it to go this way.

 

“I always talk in rhyme, it is my curse

No word I can utter that is not verse.”

 

“Someone cursed you to speak in rhyme?” He looked even more confused now. I shook my head, trying to think how I can explain it.

 

“The whole story is long and I won’t bother.

Let’s say, a rhyming demon was my father.”

 

“A rhyming demon? But… Are you the son of Neron?” I could feel the power that was held in that single name and Blood now looked really wary, looking at me with more suspicion than before.

 

In the meantime, the heroes were looking on in silence, their heads going from one to the other like this was a game of tennis.

 

“That assumption is not a win.

Neron is not my parent or kin.”

 

“He’s not? Then who is? It’s not like Rhyming Demons are easy to come across.” He was clearly eyeing me with distrust. This was going bad and, in a moment, it would go even worse. But lying to him was… probably not an option.

 

I let my binding spell go, releasing Miss Martian, who looked at me with a somewhat shocked and calculating expression on her face, before floating back to the others. Seeing this, Arsenal and Match let the two heroes they were fighting with go, before looking towards me.

 

“You won’t like the name of my kinsman.

You see, my father is the demon Etrigan.”

 

This time I saw someone freeze from the outside: Jason Blood stood there, completely still and motionless, his face in a rictus, like he wasn’t sure how to process this information or how to react to it.

 

“...come again?”

 

“Even if I say it again, it won’t change:

Etrigan’s my dad, even if it’s strange.”

 

“Ah.” Blood was still half frozen, extremely unsure on what to do. He was simply… in a situation that was completely out of his experience. While this was happening, the team of young heroes had regrouped at the door of the warehouse, while my teammates were back at my side, the tension in the warehouse rising.

 

“Rhyme.” Arsenal’s voice came from my left, low enough that only me and Match could hear it. “What do you think will happen? One breath for all good, two for bad, and three for FUBAR.”

 

I looked around, looking at the young heroes, at Blood, before returning to my calm expression. I wasn’t sure, but…

 

I exhaled twice, just strong enough to let Roy hear. I wasn’t sure, but I really didn’t want to stay here longer and… the whole situation felt like a powder keg ready to go boom.

 

“I understand. Then, I think it would be better if we get away from here, right? One for yes, two for no.” I exhaled once.

 

“In that case, take us away. Try teleportation or something, but get us away from here.” The urging in his voice was enough to convince me. Sadly, there was one thing that none of us thought of.

 

“They’re planning to escape!” Superboy’s voice broke the silence, turning all the heads towards us.

 

I forgot that he was here.

 

“It is true, we need to get away.

This situation has filled us with dismay.

_ So, while we three are still here _

_ I’ll just say: now, we disappear. _ ”

 

And I snapped my fingers, before anyone could do or say anything else. Well, almost. Kid Flash and Superboy threw themselves towards us, but Match exhaled a stream of freezing breath towards them, stopping them in their path, before we vanished completely.

 

*******************************************

 

We reappeared in another warehouse, this one on the other side of the docks. I had to grab Matthew to not fall down, the disorientation of the sudden transportation enough to make me wobble like a drunk.

 

Roy slammed against the floor, face down, and remained there. I thought it was an excellent idea, so I let go of Match and let myself down, sitting on the floor near Roy. Matthew floated down, too, before sitting between me and the redhead.

 

“That… That could have gone better.” Roy’s voice was muffled, still face down and motionless.

 

“Yeah. Still, Alex met his dad! That’s something, no?” Matthew’s voice was cheerful, clearly trying to see the good in this shitshow that was this day. Somehow, Roy and I didn’t feel that his positivity was warranted.

 

At all.

 

“Matthew… his father just came in blazing with moral justice and ready to bring us down. He saw us fighting with the kid heroes team. We are pretty much screwed.” Roy’s voice was, once again, muffled by the concrete. His entire posture simply screamed dejected resignation.

 

“Etrigan’s my father, to be clear

Blood is not, if it was unclear.”

 

I wasn’t all that much better, as far as mood went. Meeting Jason Blood was… unexpected. It was a situation that never ever crossed my mind. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t think of the fact that he was in Gotham, he was a very accomplished wizard himself and I shared blood with him. Or a part of him. The whole Etrigan/Blood dichotomy was strange to think about and even stranger to try to understand how it worked in magical terms.

 

Tangent. Not important right now.

 

What was important was the fact that he now had knowledge of my existence, knowledge of my parentage and an almost certain method to find me, seeing that I didn’t have the foggiest idea on how to block a scrying spell that used blood.

 

And, just to put the cherry on top of this whole situation, the Wild Hunt still hadn’t made its appearance. And that didn’t mean anything good.

 

“I’m tired.” Roy’s voice was the thing that cut through the silence once again, finally clear enough to be heard properly, his face turned towards me and Matthew.

 

“I’m tired of this whole situation. I’m tired of being hunted, of having to fight what should be our teammates if things went better, tired of not having a real shower or a  home-cooked meal. I’m sick and tired of this situation. Enough is enough.”

 

His voice rose in pitch and fervor the more he spoke, until he turned to look at me, his eyes burning with rage. I was pretty sure where this was going...

 

“Can you attract the Wild Hunt?” 

 

Called it. And yet, I couldn’t fault him for it.

 

I nodded. Roy pushed himself up, a steely look on his face.

 

“Then we’re going to do this. Tonight. After we have rested for a bit, we’ll call them ourselves. Enough running.”

 

His voice sounded, to me, like the tolling of a bell. Still, I couldn’t exactly fault him for that. I was tired, too.

 

****************************

 

Attracting the Wild Hunt was easier said than done. Furthermore, there was the problem of the baby heroes: they now knew that we existed and that we were three and where we were and that we were using magic… even if Kid Flash didn’t believe in magic.

 

Still, they weren’t our main problem. Fae. Those were our main problem. So, attracting them.

 

Mmhh…. Beyond trying to call them directly with a spell, I wasn’t sure what to do. Fortunately, Roy already had a plan.

 

More or less.

 

Ok, more like a Hail Mary. Still, if it worked, it was a plan.

 

“We’re moving shop inland. I found a very old, not-consecrated church on the other side of the city. It’s one of those ‘haunted’ places. Apparently, several people had been found exsanguinated and with signs of bites on the neck at the start of the 1900s.”

 

I looked at him. Matthew looked at him. Then we looked at each other, while Roy was still waiting for our reaction.

 

“With the Hunt afoot, even more you seek?

Vampires are real and are strong, not weak.”

 

“Beyond the fact that just a month ago – relatively speaking – I wouldn’t have believed in vampires, I understand your worry.” The redhead nodded, an expression of understanding on his face. “And that is exactly the reason why I have investigated the church. It was also the scene of some murders around a year and a half ago, investigated by Batman himself. He didn’t find any vampire or traces of it anywhere, so. The bloodsucker is either already gone or never existed.”

 

…ok, valid. If  _ Batman _ didn’t manage to find anything, then,  _ probably _ , there wasn’t anything there. Still, it seemed to me that the place was a poor choice, strategically speaking. It was as close to nature as you could get in Gotham – barring any Poison Ivy related shenanigans – and as the Fae lost their power around man-made materials...

 

“I chose that location because of the fence: It’s all wrought iron, all rusted and old. It hasn’t been replaced since the last time, around sixty-five years ago. And, yes, before anyone says anything: I checked. It’s still there.”

 

That sounded pretty good, actually. Well, as good as fighting what amounted to a living fae curse could be. Still worse than our traps in the warehouses, but good enough.

 

I hoped.

 

“Now, the main problem is how to attract their attention without the JLA or the Young Justice coming after us. Once we have resolved this whole fae business, then we can go to them.”

 

I was starting to feel unsure of not calling them for help, but Roy was kinda adamant on this point, so. He was my friend and, even if I was starting to think that it was dumb, I would go with him for a bit more yet.

 

Also, I was pretty convinced that it was just an excuse to not talk with Green Arrow and his clone about… well, his clone. Which was understandable, really.

 

“So, my research showed that the best way to call for Fae was either with blood, offering shiny things or calling their names three times. Which one do you think we should use?”

 

None. Still, if I had to choose…

 

“Silver, shining bright, pure and true

To bring the fae from there to you.”

 

Blood was way too risky and calling their name was giving them too much power. An offering… well. It was better than the alternatives, even if it wasn’t the best choice. But the best choice was not available, so we would have to do with what we had.

 

Matthew, who had remained strangely silent during all this time, chose this moment to speak.

 

“I think… I think I saw something?” He was looking at the wall of the warehouse, expression uncertain, eyes squinting. All of us turned our attention towards that wall, already preparing for another fight.

 

“Match.” Arsenal’s command was short, his hands reaching for his mask, the same as us. Then, our Kryptonian started to focus, turning his head slightly towards the wall and listening, before starting to do the creepy voice mimicry he did before.

 

“‘Holy shit. I found them. I found them. Ok, Artemis, calm down. Calm down. I need to alert the JLA or at least Batman. And I need to not be discovered. Holy shit. This… Wait, what’s that?’”

 

At the last part, we all blinked, unsure of what she could mean. Then, Match’s eyes turned as big as saucers and he threw himself towards us, hooking an arm around me and Arsenal’s midsection, flying away from the wall and to the other side of the warehouse.

 

The wall exploded outwards, the metal vanishing under what looked like fire but behaved like water.

 

Then, the clopping of horses on the ground, their whinnies, the sound of a hunting horn and the call of the hunters…

 

The Wild Hunt had decided to start the Hunt… actively.

 

But we were still in the warehouse. More, one of our  _ prepared _ warehouses. That meant that we had a shot.

 

“Rhyme!”

 

_ “Iron borne of man’s work and hand _

_ Pierce my enemies where they stand!” _

 

The crates piled in the center started to tremble, before splitting apart as a deluge of iron nails, scraps, rusted pipes, and everything else we managed to gather fell on the first wave of hunting hounds and frontrunners of the Hunt.

 

The black bloodhounds that were running towards us, drool dripping from their open maws, yelped and stopped as the iron fell on them, their bodies starting to smoke at the contact. It also granted us a few seconds’ reprieve, as the rain of man-made iron objects kept throwing itself them.

 

“Match, take us away from here!” Arsenal already had his bow out, one of the specially prepared iron-tipped arrows already nocked and aimed at the opening.

 

Then the hunting horns echoed again, this time coming from all around us, and the warehouse started to get literally hacked to pieces, swords and other sharp implements hitting the walls and destroying them like hot knives through butter.

 

“Shit. Surrounded.” 

 

“I can always go up?” Match’s voice was kind of tense, but still fundamentally calm. Thank whoever was above for that. I’m not sure I wouldn’t fall to a panic if he wasn’t.

 

Still, we had to get away from here. Now. And, well, the teleport trick of before worked pretty well, so…

 

_ “With no whisper or boom _

_ Take us to my broom!” _

 

I grabbed both Match and Arsenal and we three vanished into a star of light, right before the whole warehouse collapsed apart. Literally a moment before.

 

On another note, I was really grateful that I forgot my broom at our previous position.

 

The only problem was that we reappeared in the same warehouse where the heroes where. And they were still there. Well, the Young Justice team seemed to be reduced to Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Superboy watching Jason Blood doing something with my broom. It was in a circle drawn with chalk, alight with red light and slowly spinning.

 

I was gonna assume that it was some sort of compass spell or something. Not important.

 

They stopped for a moment, looking at us with complete surprise. We, on the other hand, hit the ground running. Literally.

 

Match shot out towards Blood, with us two still in his arms, before jinking left and grabbing the broom.

 

“Thanks! Need to run, monsters hunting us!” And he flew away from the warehouse, passing over the heads of a very surprised Kid Flash and Robin. Just in time.

 

We saw a wave of fog in the sky, running towards us, against the wind, the sound of horns and the clopping of horses. From the fog, shapes started to appear: elven-looking men and women, the first barechested, the second with only a wrapping around their breast, muscles bulging with power and weapons already drawn and ready.

 

And, at the head of the hunt, we saw him. A man, at least in shape, with a bow slung around his back, a sword at his waist. Deer horns sprouting from his forehead.

 

The Horned Hunter.

 

“Go go go!” Arsenal’s shouting was enough to make us all move, Match assuming the characteristic ‘Superman’ flying pose and letting the archer climb on his back. As for me, I had my broom.

 

It was time for a live fire test, it seemed.

 

“Hey, wait a second! What is...” Jason Blood’s voice came from behind me, but I didn’t have the time to stay and talk with him.

 

“The Wild Hunt’s hunting us.

No time to stay and discuss!”

 

And I took the skies, low on my broom, following Match’s form. Both of us went into an almost vertical ascent, before stabilizing and looking at the incoming horde. It was daunting.

 

“Rhyme, do you read me?” The communicator in my ear came alive, Arsenal’s voice coming loud and clear. I hummed in answer, my eyes still focused on the incoming enemies.

 

What do you do when you know that the opponent facing you can’t be beaten?

 

“Good. Look, I found something in my research. A call to one of the Lord of the Fae, apparently. I’m not sure I trust it, but after seeing their numbers… I’m not sure we can beat them.”

 

I knew that we couldn’t beat them. But I let Roy speak, only humming again.

 

“We just need to reach the church I showed you two earlier and I can try. It’s the only real plan that I can think of.”

 

I agreed. Still, I was worried that we were going to jump from the pan into the fire.

 

“Then… let’s move.” His voice turned steely and I saw him take out one of the tricks that we prepared in the previous week.

 

Between strategizing what to do – which went down the drain the moment the Hunt appeared – and research – that yielded the insane idea of contacting a Lord of the Fae – we managed to come up with three weapons.

 

First, the iron-tipped arrows. Not that many, around thirty or so, but it was something. Then, iron dust, to use like a smokescreen or poison or something. Third, what Arsenal was holding right now.

 

A scrap grenade.

 

Basically, a homemade explosive filled with iron nails and shards. We managed to create just three or so, ‘cause we didn’t want to attract too much attention, but I think that they were fairly good as far as weapons go.

 

Ot, at least, I hoped.

 

So, with that in mind, we nodded at each other, before turning towards the incoming hunt.

 

“At my signal, charge.” The crackling voice coming from my communicator made me hum in assent once again, my eyes focused and my mind whirring, trying to think on what could give me an advantage in the fight. What rhyme would I need?

 

“Steady… steady...” 

 

The Hunt was fast approaching. Nearer and nearer, we could now see the vitriolic green and bright blue of their eyes, shining with energy. The strongest glow of all was the Huntsman at the helm, the green coming from his eyes obscuring half his face.

 

“NOW!”


	18. Chapter 18: Boy

I shot out towards the Hunt, words falling from my lips like a prayer, magic twisting and turning into what I wanted.

 

_ “Air beneath me, around me, up above _

_ Turn into a wall and give them a shove!” _

 

The air around me crackled purple, before turning into what I always imagined a Gelatinous Cube looked like.

 

Basically, jell-o without flavouring or colouring.

 

It was also rather effective as a hammer, as the group of hunters that I literally bowled over in my mad dash learned personally. I literally unseated them from their mounts when they tried to grab me and only found a very slick, very smooth and very hard surface several inches in front of me.

 

I didn’t stop to see if the fall killed them, hurt them or did nothing at all, as the sound of hooves rattled on… well, on something that should have been air, but it sounded far harder than air.

 

A  _ very _ quick glance behind me showed that several of them were in pursuit, their mounts – deer, I thought, judging by the horns, or maybe elk – carrying them. In their hands, swords and bows. That was bad.

 

The whole situation called for more magic, but I needed to be conservative. I had no idea how long I would need to last, so I had to go for the maximum results, minimum effort.

 

So be it.

 

“ _ From my sorrow, winds that slash _

_ Hit my targets, cut them in a dash. _ ”

 

Blades made of wind appeared behind me before spinning towards my pursuers and, judging by the sounds, cutting them.

 

I bent down, streamlining my profile to offer less resistance to the air, and tried to increase my speed. I got minutely faster.

 

And yet the sound of even more hooves behind me reached my ears, against all laws of physics and reality. But then again, these were fae. I’d guess that the sound of hooves was some sort of signal to the hunted to let them know that they were being hunted. Like a cat with a bell or something.

 

So, I needed to take the battle to where I had the advantage of maneuverability. Down at roof level and using some slaloms between the really strange gothic architecture and the alleys should give me a bit of a leg up over them.

 

 But I needed to create some space, if I went straight down they would use their bows. OK, so…

 

I didn’t slow down, I simply pulled up once again, as fast and sharply as I could, while trying to keep an eye on them.

 

It caused a headache, but it kind of worked. I went for a loop, with them following me like gravity didn’t matter anymore than dust did, going straight up.

 

Following my exact path.

 

Loop completed, I headed towards the ground, eyes narrowing and thanking my foresight to make an air shield, otherwise my eyes would have started to water by now.

 

And that would have been a disaster, as my plan was to go as close to the ground as I could with my limited experience before pulling up.

 

If that reminded me of the Wronski Feint, it was because it was exactly what I was trying to pull out. Hoping to not do the job for the Hunt and splatter myself on the concrete. So I kept going down.

 

Down, past the roof, past the windows of the highest floor, reaching midway down the building, going even lower, before pulling up once again, returning to horizontal flight and speeding away down an alley. A narrow alley.

 

The sound of the mounts hitting the walls told the success of my plan. Now I just had to reach the church that Arsenal had pointed me to.

 

Trying to use the communicator, though, didn’t give any result. Apparently we were either too far away from each other or the Hunt disrupted the signals. I would have to simply move towards the church by myself and hope to not be too early… or too late.

 

Still in my flight forward, I strained my ears to see if I could hear the hooves once again, but it didn’t seem like they were able to follow me in this tight alley…

 

Or not. Again, the sound of hooves came from behind me, and when I glanced behind I could see a woman was leading the charge, her hands glowing and the buildings moving away from her, before returning to their original position. Like there was a bubble around her that granted her all the space she needed to follow me.

 

Well, that was grand.

 

I had to think of a way to gain a bit of space… again. I could collapse a building on them? Nah, seeing as things were avoiding them it probably wouldn’t work. Also, innocents.

 

Kill the lead huntress? That thought made me a bit uncomfortable, but this was a life or death situation, so… Still, how? Somehow I had my doubts that a direct attack would work.

 

Losing them? Not possible.

 

I couldn’t think of a solution. Between the fight earlier and the pursuit, I couldn’t calm down and think. I had to think. I had to. HAD to!

 

**HAD…**

 

Then I collided with something. Smaller than me, soft. Humanoid. Black hair. Blue eyes.

 

Had a camera around his neck. Was holding onto me as I sped away from the Hunt. Was looking behind me, eyes big and panicked, fear clearly etched on his face.

 

I calmed down almost instantly. An innocent was in the middle of the situation. Now I had to find a solution. And I had to find a solution  _ right now _ .

 

And then I got an idea. Fae were weak to Iron. Cold Iron specifically, but Iron could work. I hoped. At least it worked in the warehouse, so…

 

One hand went around the waist of the boy to avoid him falling out of the ride and, maybe, getting grabbed by the Hunt, while the other remained firmly on the shaft of my broom.

 

“Sorry to drag you into this right now

But I’ll make it up to you, somehow.

From the hunters we need to flee

Can you tell when they’re near me?”

 

“You’re talking in rhyme.” His voice was kind of floaty, probably the shock and the whole situation he found himself in.

 

I nodded, before glancing back and trying to speed up a bit.

 

“I always talk in rhyme, it is my curse

No word I can utter that is not in verse.”

 

I could see him blink in surprise. “Curses exist?”

 

Well, his question made sense. And, honestly, I would like to talk with him, if – now that my brain was actually working again – he was who I thought he was.

 

“Oh, they absolutely do exist,

They’ll hit you like a stone fist

Now, if you would assist?”

 

“Oh.” He blinked again, his baby face and big blue eyes extremely cute to see, before looking over my shoulder and trying to see what was going on with the hunt.

 

“That woman is naked.”

 

I had to suppress a laugh at his comment that, while being almost completely correct, it was also not the point. I simply nodded against his shoulder, not even trying to keep the smile out of my face.

 

“Oh, right, distance. Uuhhh…. they are… pretty distant? But they are getting nearer.”

 

Right, no frame of reference. So.

 

“Sorry to ask you this, but to avoid our demise and doom

Tell me when they’re at the distance of your smallest room.”

 

“My smallest room? You mean the smallest room in my house?” I nodded again at his questioning tone, before taking a hard left and turning into another alley.

 

It wasn’t a dead end, luckily, but it was still far too close to the main roads for my liking. Still, now that I had a spotter, I could focus on going towards the church.

 

No, bringing the kid with me was a horrible idea, but it’s not like I had the time to stop and let him step down somewhere safely. Either I brought him with me, or he would get submerged in the Wild Hunt’s charge.

 

And that was either a death sentence or imprisonment under the hill for who knows how long.

 

Something that I would wish only on my worst enemy. Maybe not even on them.

 

With that in mind, I kicked the speed up a notch, words twirling in my head like a hurricane, trying to find the right rhyme, the right combination of words that would help me – us – in this situation…

 

“They’re there.” The boy’s voice came quietly, barely a whisper in my ear, while I was still busy assembling my rhyme. Well, no more time to think, need to act. Let’s hope I have some inspiration left.

 

_ “With fell power and demon’s work _

_ Make a turn around, a rework:  _

_ Create a net, by man made _

_ In Cold Iron weaved and laid _

_ Before those who hunt us _

_ Entangle them and truss. _

_ With your True Name, I make this bet: _

_ Now I name you: Cold Iron Net!” _

 

I felt a jolt of pain in my head, but my magic moved as I wanted, even if I felt a pretty familiar feeling of heat under my nose. I had a bloody nose, didn’t I? Dammit.

 

Still, I could hear the sounds of the hunters behind me getting trapped in the net, their shouts of pain and their mounts stopping. That was enough for me.

 

I sped up even more, turning down several alleys one after another, before rising up to the roof and letting him climb down.

 

I looked at him with a worried look in my eyes, before pointing at him and then at the concrete down below. The meaning was pretty clear.

 

“I will be able to reach it without problem. Thank you.” He seemed to be pretty calm about the whole situation, so I simply nodded slowly.

 

“Fae are a tricky and sly bunch

And hard to beat to the punch.

Don’t call them, don’t accept offers

Don’t ask anything from their coffers

Don’t make promises or accords or deals

If you don’t want to end under their heels.

Don’t reveal your name, fully or not

Or you’ll be caught in their dark knot.”

 

I left him with some words of wisdom that, hopefully, would help to keep him safe. At least for a bit. The fact that he was looking at me and nodding with seriousness was a good indicator that, at least, I wasn’t talking to the wind.

 

I nodded again, before mounting my broom and preparing to depart once again, only to feel his hand stop me.

 

“Before you go… what can I call you?” His voice was clearly shaking a bit, but he was resolute.

 

“As true as your bedtime

You can call me Rhyme.”

 

“Rhyme. Ok, I got it. Thank you. Good luck against the… fae?” I nodded at his serious expression once again, before moving for real, this time.

 

I had to reach the church. And hope that I wasn’t either too late or too early.

 

*************************************

 

If I managed to survive this night, I vowed to myself to seek out Blood and ask him for magical lessons. I really needed to know how to conjure things without writing a fucking poem about them.

 

Case in point: the Iron Net I tried to summon.

 

I did summon it, but I was pretty sure that my spell was flawed somehow, as I felt the connection that I had with it snap after barely a minute.

 

Then the Hunt was back on my heels.

 

I bent down more and sped up, the sound of hooves still reaching me. I weaved up and down, in between buildings and alleys, flying over the main roads and more, trying to gain that bit more distance that I would need to reach the church and not getting hit while descending from the boom.

 

Once I was in sight of the church, the comm I had in my ear crackled to life, Arsenal’s voice coming in.

 

“Rhyme. We are here. We can see you approaching. Move a bit to the left...” I moved to my left, focusing my attention only on what was in front of me, ignoring the rest. “Other left, other left!”

 

Ohhhhh, HIS left. He should have said so. I moved right and an arrow passed near me, almost near enough to graze me.

 

But Arsenal was a good enough archer to not let this happen.

 

The first hunter in the chase made a sound of pain, before dropping down like a sack of bricks, obstructing the rest of them for that crucial moment that I needed to bypass the fence, already moving low and coming to a stop in front of a ready Roy and a wary Match. He was already nocking another iron-tipped arrow, eyes darting warily under his mask.

 

“Close the fence! Make a whole circle, before they get here!” The redhead’s shout was well warranted: the fence was ruined in several places, the iron or the rocks having fell to the ravages of time. And, without creating an unbroken circle, we were without protection.

 

Thankfully, the church wasn’t hallowed anymore, so I didn’t have any problems standing on consecrated land or working my magic, my hands starting to blaze purple.

 

_ “Fence of iron, rusted by time _

_ Now listen to my magic rhyme: _

_ Be complete and whole _

_ Without break or hole. _

_ To your rightful place returned _

_ And the hostile be spurned!” _

 

I slammed my palm down on the floor and a wave of purple fire exploded from me, washing everything in an eerie light, propating out until it hit the fence. The iron trembled for a moment, before flying backwards and reforming into a fence.

 

A wall of shimmering, insubstantial light manifested a moment later when one of the hunters tried to fly over the fence and slammed against it. But, beyond the point of impact, it was like there was nothing.

 

The hunter didn’t seem particularly damaged, but he was clearly annoyed. Soon, the outside of the church was filled with mist and phantasmal forms circling around, the Horned Hunter reaching us a moment later, the green light that was his eyes narrowing for a moment.

 

And then, we waited.

 

We waited for an idea. For anything that could help save us. Anything that was actually feasible.

 

Roy’s idea to summon a Lord of the Fae could have worked… if it wasn’t for a detail that only came to the surface now: we didn’t have anything to contract with. Except ourselves.

 

And that was, unanimously, a Hard No.

 

So we waited. My Time Turner spinning slowly as I kept the fence intact, feeding it energy to keep the spell running. The Hunt tried several times to enter, going over or around, but the barrier was a perfect sphere, as far as I could tell, and nothing of Fae origin could pass.

 

The only thing that we could do now was to wait for the morning and hope that it would actually do something. Maybe make them flee for another day or… I dunno, having ‘won’ against them, make them leave us alone?

 

We were just trying to gain some time.

 

Until we ran out. Of time.

 

“ Can I have your attention, please? ” The voice echoed from the outside of the barrier, but it was clearly masculine and vaguely human, so Match went to look. And stiffened instantly.

 

“ We want to talk with you. Well, discuss, really. Only a minor matter. ”

 

Me and Arsenal shared a look, before we moved towards the half-destroyed window to see what was happening. Match grabbed both of us, one under each arm, and squeezed us gently, in a gesture that I knew was a search for comfort.

 

And I understood why he did that: outside, a fae dressed as a courtier was addressing us, with the Horned Hunter to his right. And a child dangling from his hands. The child I had met that same night, actually.

 

“ Will you open the barrier? Only me and the child will enter and I will guarantee a truce for the duration of the parley, as well as ten minutes after. ”

 

“What will you do if we say no?” Arsenal’s voice came with a shout from the other side of Match, directed straight towards the Fae Lord – because he was one of the Lords, of that I was virtually sure – without even wavering a bit.

 

“ Do? Nothing. We will wait until morning and then we’ll go away. Taking this innocent babe with us. And we.  **_Won’t_ ** .  **Return** . ”

 

…

 

Son of a…

 

“...” Both Roy and Matthew looked at me, the hopeless expressions on their faces mirrored on my own. I shrugged, clearly unsure on what to do. Roy was gnawing on his lower lip, until it started to bleed and Matthew looked like he was staring into the distance, thousands of miles away.

 

Then, the brunette spoke, “We accept, if you swear an oath that you are coming in good faith and won’t betray the Truce!”

 

I felt a jolt of pain from the shout, but the chuckle of the Lord was enough to make me return my focus to the Fae.

 

“ A wary one. Very well! I, Lord of Tomorrow’s Eve and the Dawn to Come, swear on my Names that, while under truce and for ten minutes after, as measured in the local Earth Time, the Wild Hunt and I will cease all offensive actions, unless actively attacked. Furthermore, only the child and I will enter. ”

 

“The HUMAN child!” Roy’s voice came from nowhere a moment later, extracting another chuckle from the lord.

 

“ Yes, yes. The HUMAN child. Do you all accept? ”

 

We looked at each other for a moment. What else could we do? I nodded and Matthew shouted once again. 

 

“We accept!”

 

I focused on the barrier, the Time Turner spinning faster, before a wavy opening appeared in front of the Lord. He took the child and moved inside, without even pausing.

 

And why should he? He had all the power here. We were just trying to survive without suffering a horrible fate worse than death.

 

He stopped around the halfway point between the church and the fence, before sitting down on a chair that was suddenly there, as well as the table.

 

“ Come, sit. It’s better to be comfortable for this meeting. ”

 

Three more chairs, made of the same dark wood of the rest of the furniture, appeared from nothing on the other side of the table.

 

Fully acknowledging that being rude would be an insult against him and could be considered a violation of the Truce, we three moved towards it and sat down on the other side of the round table.

 

“ Something to drink? To eat? After the run you have made, you must be starving, positively parched! ”

 

Several carafes of silver, gold and clear liquid appeared on the table, along with fruits in delicate porcelain bowls, plates of fragrant roasts and pheasants, garnished with greens, potatoes and who knows what else, towering cakes, a teapot bubbling away…

 

Everything looked delicious, every smell made our mouth water and the thirst and hunger that adrenaline had kept at bay returned in full force. Just a bite wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

 

If it wasn’t for the iron grip that Matthew had on my arms, I admit that I would have fallen to temptation and taken a bite. Or two.

 

Or a whole cake.

 

“While you are extremely graceful, we are here for business, not pleasure. If you would please make your demands for what you want in exchange for leaving us – and the child – alone...”

 

Roy came to our salvation, as he pushed away the plates and glasses in front of him, before looking straight towards the Lord.

 

Now that I could look at him better, I could see that his skin was an unnatural shade of white, almost like moonlight, while his hair were black like the night. His eyes looked like one of those flowers that only bloom at night and his clothes were of extremely fine quality.

 

He chuckled again, before smiling. The feast on the table vanished and he showed us his mouth filled with needle-like teeth.

 

“ My demands to stop the Wild Hunt from hunting you all and leave this children here with you? It’s something... simple, a mere trifle. ”

 

He tilted forward, his smile growing and growing.

  
“ A name. ”


	19. Chapter 19: Dealing with Faeries

 

A name.

 

Maybe it didn’t seem like much, something in the sense of ’What’s your name?’, or ‘Give me a nickname’, or, for the more esoteric types out there, ‘Give me a name to conclude the contract with.’

 

But I knew that this wasn’t the case.

 

“ I don’t mean a casual one, of course. I want one of your names. One of the names one of you will have in the future. It isn’t much now, is it? ”

 

I was absolutely sure that it was much.

 

Let me think for a second, a future name. That meant giving him anything that had to do with it. Anything that could have been accomplished by the name would be in his hands.

 

Furthermore, if I was correct, that would also mean that he had a foothold in the mortal world, thus be able to enter anytime he wanted.

 

That was… so ridiculously dangerous that I didn’t even want to think about it.

 

On the other hand, I was thanking all the gods, demons, and saints that I was interested enough to study Fae and Faerie in my previous life.

 

I admit that most of my knowledge came from either game manuals or fiction books, but I had read something from studies on folklore, too.

 

All the same, that was one thing that we couldn’t absolutely give him.

 

Heck, forget the metaphysical implication of the future, what would it do to the psyche of the person that had given their own future name? Wasn’t it akin to giving them part of their fate?

 

I turned my head towards Matthew and Roy, the expression of panic clearly visible on my face, and they looked at me for a moment, before returning their attention towards the Lord.

 

“And… why do you want a name?” Roy’s voice was the first to come out, slightly strangled, but still clear.

 

“ Well, why not? You have more than one, I believe. ”

 

A facetious answer. It didn’t really ‘answer’ anything, but there wasn’t a way for us to contest his response. Mainly because we didn’t think of a way to word our aversion, I believe.

 

“And there isn’t… anything else?” This time it was Matthew that asked, his voice deepening a couple of octaves, a result of his attempt to control it.

 

It reminded me of Superman’s voice. Or maybe Conner’s.

 

“ Oh, of course there are! You could be in my servitude for one hundred and one years, you could gift me the still-beating hearts of twelve sets of twins born at Samhain, you could grant me Residence and Right of Hospitality for Seven Years and Seven Days, you could fight under my banner in the next three wars, you could... ”

 

His proposals kept coming, each worse than the previous, most deceptively simple in their wording.

 

No one on our side of the table was fooled: they were all either worse or a trap. Probably both.

 

That… didn’t promise anything good. We were, honestly speaking, backed into a corner.

 

At this point, I was really hoping for Blood or Batman or the Justice League or… anyone to intervene in this whole situation. We were so over our heads that we could be taking a stroll on the moon and still not reach the surface of the mess of problems we were in.

 

Also, the most important thing: the Lord had a hostage. A completely innocent hostage that was also a kid. And, if I was correct in my assumption, my fault that he was in this mess.

 

Because he was the kid that had helped me in my escape and, now that I could see him better, the one I bled over when I summoned the Net. They must have found him because of that blood.

 

If I managed to escape this whole situation without dying or being kidnapped into Faerie, I would find a way to neutralize all the blood outside my body.

 

“Rhyme, could you  _ communicate _ a bit more with us? This discourse involve you too, you know.” Roy’s voice was the one that shook me out of the daydreaming I was doing.

 

And the strange emphasis that he had put on the word communication was… sparking something in me.

 

Oh, of course.

 

I almost opened my mouth before glancing at the Fae Lord, who was, very pointedly, not looking at us and, instead, keeping up a constant stream of several proposals while waving a chalice full of wine around.

 

Then, I tried to focus as much as I could. I knew the words, and as long as I could string a rhyme together, I could cast. It shouldn’t make any difference if the words were spoken aloud or not…

 

_ ‘Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart _

_ Let us speak without voice _

_ Let us hear only by choice.’ _

 

I had to keep it running in the back of my mind for a minute before I could feel the connection sparking to life. It felt limited, sputtering, like a radio badly connected. But we could send short messages across between us, hopefully without the fae listening to us.

 

<What….. we do?>

 

That was Matthew. I had learnt to recognize the undertones of emotion that every mental voice had and the Kryptonian had a particularly innocent lilt to his mental voice.

 

<.....dunno.>

 

That was Roy.

 

I refrained from saying anything, unsure of what to do. I could think of one option, but it was a gamble at best.

 

<Demon…. Release?>

 

Demon Release. What I called the spell I performed before all of this happened, to bring down Damian Cult. Still, looking at the creature in front of me, the ease that he used to simply create a very solid piece of furniture from nothing… well, that made me pretty skeptical.

 

<Danger. Not worth.> Matthew. Agreement came from Roy a moment later. Apparently they had the same thought. Well then. That was that.

 

<My name.> If there was someone that had to sacrifice themselves, it would be me. I was the one that was intruding in this universe, so I was less at risk.

 

I hoped.

 

<No. Me,> Matthew rebuked, his will coming down as a titanium door, all the emotions behind it loud and clear.

 

<Stupid.> Roy’s voice was more clipped, but barbed and to the point, exactly like one of his arrows.

 

“What exactly does it mean to give you a name?” And he was also the first to talk, directing his question towards the Fae in front of us.

 

The creature was more human-like that I had grasped before. I didn’t care to look at him, but now I was kind of forced.

 

He looked English, somewhat, with a ruffled shirt immaculately white, a jacket made of leather that was similar to the night sky, and pants that paired with the jacket.

 

And when I say similar, I meant that it looked like someone had taken a piece of the night, turned it into cloth and fashioned it into a dress. As for his face…

 

He was perfectly symmetrical, with pale skin, pale lips, eyes black as the deepest darkness, and teeth that appeared human at first glance, but, under a more focused observation, were as sharp and needle-like as a piranha’s.

 

“ What does it mean? It means that it becomes mine. Everything about it goes to enriching my power: any act, any mistake, any glory or infamy bound to it will become MINE. ”

 

His answer was pretty clear cut. That meant that he must have something that he wasn’t telling us. 

 

I mean, he was Fae. That was basically a guarantee.

 

We exchanged a look. Then we heard something ticking.

 

The Lord had taken out an ancient pocket watch, made of what looked like gold, opening the cover and checking the inside.

 

“ The night is short and dawn is coming. We wouldn’t want to neglect concluding our business before the sun comes up, now would we? ”

 

His voice was silky, convincing and… I shook my head, like I was trying to remove the cobwebs from it, and recognized it for what it was.

 

A Glamour. Or some sort of magic to convince us to accept.

 

I was lucky that my contact with them hadn’t failed while I was briefly under the influence of his magic.

 

<WAKE UP!> My mental shout slowed along the connection and jolted them into awareness, making them close their mouths with a click, before they glared at the Lord.

 

“...Trying to convince us with magic could be seen as a violation of the truce.” Roy’s voice was frigid, so cold that I was surprised that snow wasn’t starting to fall.

 

“ Magic? Oh, how irresponsible on my part! You are absolutely right. To make amends for my breach in etiquette, let me remove the spell that keeps the little one asleep .”

 

Oh, that cunning son of a…

 

We HAD to accept his offer, now that we knew that the kid – and yes, I was aware of who he was, I just didn’t want to think about his name in case it fell from my lips – was under a spell that kept him asleep. We had no idea if we could remove the magic sleep and the chance was that he would ask for something else in exchange for that.

 

“Very well. We’ll accept your apologies after you have removed the spell permanently.”

 

Again, Roy’s voice was cold. I shivered hearing him, but the Lord simply smiled  _ more _ – and I wasn’t sure how he managed  _ that  _ – and waved his hand over the kid’s head.

 

Slowly, the child started to blink, blue eyes shimmering with tears from the ‘nap’, and stretched himself for a moment.

 

Then he saw where he was, saw our expressions and who was keeping him hostage. And stiffened completely, his face snapping into a mask of politeness without a moment more. The mark of a true High Society Gothamite with some sense in their head.

 

I still think that this place could be cleaned with hellfire and come out better than before, but that was just me.

 

“ Did you have a nice nap? ” The Fae Lord was all smiles – closed-mouth smiles – and pleasant tones. “ You must be hungry or thirsty. Here, drink something, eat! ”

 

<Tell… him… Fae!>

 

I didn’t have the time to compose a rhyme, so I just sent my thoughts down the link towards my two companions. Matthew was the one to react first.

 

“Don’t! He’s a Fae, eating that will put you under his power!” His voice kind of boomed in the air, so loud he was, but that was good. It brought T- the kid to a complete stop and made him retract his hand.

 

“It’s a most gracious offer, but I feel fine.” His tinny voice was so young, oh my god, but the way he spoke was clearly learned from someone else. Maybe his parents?

 

Still, the Fae looked vaguely annoyed, so I counted it as a good thing.

 

“ As you wish. Then, do you, perchance, want to know the situation you are in? We cannot have a proper negotiation session without  _ all _ the people negotiating knowing what they are negotiating  _ for _ , no? ”

 

“He doesn’t have anything to do with this!” Match’s voice was hard as a freaking diamond and he looked like he was going to start laser up the Lord at any moment. On a side note, where did I put my diamond ball? Oh, wait. It was in my pocket. I need to keep better track of that thing, if it wasn’t connected to me I would have lost it already... - 

 

“ On the contrary. He helped one of you in your escape and was marked by it in blood. That makes him a very active, if independent, part of the Hunt. ”

 

THAT CUNNING, BASTARD SON OF A…!

 

“What are we negotiating for?” The kid’s voice came out clear and mostly steady, only a small tremor under it to mark the fear he must be feeling.

 

“ Oh, a simple thing. Just their release from their part as prey and your freedom as a prisoner of the Hunt. ”

 

I was too furious to say or even think anything and, apparently, so were my companions. They just looked at the Fae with murder in their eyes.

 

The Lord didn’t even acknowledge them, eyes fixed on Tim.

 

“Oh.” A single word, but it stood there, between all of us, trembling in the air as if it was made of crystal. Then…

 

“And what is your request?”

 

...well, color me impressed. Timmy’s nerves were made of freaking adamantium.

 

“ A name. But not any name, a name that one of the people present here will get in the future. ”

 

Wait a second, that wording was strange. The haze of my fury didn’t allow me much more than that thought, though, so I didn’t catch what he was aiming for.

 

“A name?” Tim looked at me, probably remembering what I had said to him before, but he also glanced around for the first time and noticed the veritable army of hunters that were around the barrier, their mounts huffing and puffing, their blades and spears gleaming.

 

We were well and truly trapped.

 

“Would mine work?”

 

Yeah, that? That was the moment where I completely and utterly froze. I could feel my blood chilling in my veins, the words that Tim had said in constant replay in my head.

 

The way the Lord smiled was even creepier than before and I felt my eyes widen, a bolt of comprehension lighting up in my brain.

 

“ Yours, little human child? Mmhh… let me see... ” his black eyes filled his eyes completely, before looking in Tim’s blue ones.

 

What did he say his names were, again?

 

_ **********************Flashback**************** _

 

_ “ _ _ A wary one. Very well! I, Lord of Tomorrow’s Eve and the Dawn to Come, swear on my Names that, while under truce and for ten minutes after, as measured in the local Earth Time, the Wild Hunt and I will cease all offensive actions, unless actively attacked. Furthermore, only the child and I will enter. _ _ ” _

 

_ *********************End Flashback*************** _

 

Lord of Tomorrow’s Eve… The Dawn to Come. That meant the future. That fucking son of a bitch could see the future!  THAT was the reason why he wanted a future name!

 

But of the three of us, neither me nor Match had important names in the future, only Roy got Arsenal after he was found by his clone in the original canon…

 

...We weren’t the only people present in the negotiations, though. Tim was with us from the start. And the way he used glamour… for a Lord of the Fae, it was strangely weak. I barely felt it.

 

This whole thing was a trap to get Tim’s name. Because, what was a stronger and more cardinal point in the future of Gotham than when Tim Drake became Robin and helped Batman return to the right path after Jason’s death?

 

<FUCK!> was the only word that went through the mindlink, exchanged by all three of us. And then, as a single person, we turned towards him, mouths already parting…

 

“ Yes, I think it is suitable. Your future name will be enough to fulfill the contract. If you are willing to exchange it? ”

 

Only to find that we didn’t have mouths anymore. Only a smooth expanse of flesh and skin, with no aperture. I could feel the tingle of magic on my lips, the way it shaped the Glamour. It was an illusion, our mouths disappearing, but it was an illusion that convinced our brains that it was true and thus, we couldn’t speak as long as the Glamour was up.

 

“Well...” Tim’s eyes moved from the Fae towards us, clearly unsure. The illusion that the Lord had on us must have included some sort of other visual component, he didn’t seem to notice anything wrong.

 

“ Your name and I take the Wild Hunt and myself back to Faerie, never to target you and your friends again. No harm will befall you or the other, no retribution from the Fae. That was the deal. So, do you accept? ”

 

His smile gleamed like a knife, his extended hand looked like a bear trap ready to snap close. And I had only a moment to try and save the future and who knows how many people.

 

<AlEx! LiNK.. Im!> Matthew’s voice came into my head distorted and faulty, but it was enough to let me do something.

 

I got help from Roy and Matthew. From the archer, I focused my will to the single point of an arrow. From the kryptonian, I took the strength. And from me, the magic that I would need.

 

_ ‘Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart _

_ Let us speak without voice _

_ Let us hear only by choice. _

_ Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart _

_ Let us speak without voice _

_ Let us hear only by choice. _

_ Eye to eye, heart to heart _

_ Here or infinitely apart…’ _

 

It worked. I don’t know how or why, but it worked. I could feel the tenuous, fragile link between me and Tim. He was scared, in turmoil, and as focused as a kid could be in the situation he was, but he was managing to keep all of it under wraps. His parents had taught him well in that aspect.

 

That teaching was what saved him from showing that he could hear me.

 

<Tim! ONe NAm… OnLY!>

 

The link snapped, only the short message making it across. I hoped it was enough. I hoped he would understand what I meant.

 

“As long as it’s a single name… yes,” Tim clarified, looking the Fae in the eye. It was a monumentally stupid move, but the smile on his face was smug enough that he let it go and nodded graciously.

 

“ Of course, a single name. No more. ” The hand that engulfed Tim’s was large and big and powerful. The kid was small for his age, but in comparison to the Lord he was so small that it physically hurt.

 

“Then I accept.” The moment those words echoed in the air, a bell chimed three times. I could count each tooth the Fae was showing.

 

A bright, red-yellow-green light came from Tim, twisting and turning, streaming from him, flowing like a river. It briefly formed the shape of a bird over his head, before being sucked into the Lord.

 

“ The deal is struck! As promised, I get the name Robin from you and you all get to go free! ”

 

The Glamour around my mouth vanished, while the Lord was almost writhing in what looked like pleasure, the light kept coming and coming. Tim was almost catatonic, instinctively trying to grab at it, even if he didn’t know why he was trying to keep it.

 

“By the Stone of Destiny and Danu Goddess,

By King Taranis and the Queen of Darkness!

I declare you False, Insincere, Oathbreaker!

Lie-Speaker, Forked Tongue, and Lie-Maker!

Not one name you took, but three, creator of sorrow:

Red Robin, Joker Junior, and Batman of Tomorrow!”

 

Everything stopped. The Fae turned to me, now looking more and more like a snake, scales on his skin, slitted eyes, a literal forked tongue and fangs dripping venom.

 

“ You... ”

 

Before he could say anything else, I continued my tirade, not wanting him to say anything, not wanting him to get the chance to turn this whole situation around.

 

_ “To make this crystal clear _

_ To the Wyrd, this I swear!” _

 

I really hoped that I was right. Because if I wasn’t…

 

“Robin? I… don’t… what?” Tim’s voice was weak and exhausted and  _ there _ . And, when he spoke, our vision filled with red. Red strings. Red strings that tied the kid in a knot that calling it Gordian was an understatement. The strings that were being consumed by the Fae.

 

The strings that were now  _ strangling _ the Fae, cutting his words, his gestures, his very magic.

 

The bell from before struck three times and everything went white.

 

************************************

 

When I woke up, I was in a cell, the Earth hung outside the window and Jason Blood was sitting on a chair outside the glass wall that was in the place of bars.

 

On the upside: I wasn’t dead.

 

On the downside: I had to talk with my father figure. Sort of father figure. And, probably, the whole Justice League.  Alone.

  
….You know, death didn’t sound  _ that _ bad…


	20. Chapter 20: The Chapter where we do what they say not to: meet our heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lateness, life happened.

**Chapter 20: The Chapter where we do what they say not to: meet our heroes.**

 

“You’re up.” Blood’s words made me freeze. With him realizing that I wasn’t asleep anymore, I had to face him. Well, I could keep ignoring him, but,  _ strategically speaking _ , it wasn’t a good move.

 

So I nodded.

 

“Good. A word of advice, don’t try to use magic. Both Zatara and I have spelled your cell to be impassable from the inside and to make any magic you try to use on it rebound back. It wouldn’t be pleasant, I assure you.”

 

I raised my eyebrow at that, before waving at the almost imperceptible symbols floating on the glass of my cell, along with white granules on the ground in front of it.

 

“Salt I spy and Iron I see.

A prisoner I am to be?”

 

“A prisoner? No. It’s a precaution. You appear from nowhere, claim to be the son of Etrigan, and, no more than an hour after meeting you, you come back escaping from the Wild Hunt, along with two other teenagers, one of which looks a lot like Green Arrow's protégé, if a few years younger, the other a kryptonian.” Jason shrugged, returning to his chair.

 

“You can imagine how all of this is making the people in the League a bit paranoid. Especially Batman.”

 

I went to rub my forehead when I hit the mask still on my face. I wasn’t even aware that it was still there. No matter, it was a layer more between me and him, so it was all good.

 

Still, it was strange that they hadn’t removed it, so I tapped on it with my fingernail, attracting Blood's attention to it.

 

“The mask? What about it?”

 

I made the gesture of removing and putting on the mask, before staring at him, willing him to understand.

 

“What? Oh, why we haven’t removed the masks? Well, for starters, we can’t. They’re kept on with magic. We could have dispelled it, but seeing that you went with a spell to create them specifically, it wasn’t that big of a problem to let you all keep them, even if someone had protested against it.”

 

Batman. Still, I nodded. I imagine that keeping the identities secret was a sort of professional courtesy, especially if they didn’t know if I was hostile or not. Point for them.

 

“I’ll say something that’ll turn you blue.

It’s not just Etrigan, I’m a Zatara too.”

 

I could swear that my smirk could be heard in my words. And seeing the expression that Blood had on his face change from attention to incomprension and, finally, to complete and utter bafflement, was really funny.

 

“You… what?” His eyebrows were around his hairline and his eyes were the size of saucers. Then he got up.

 

“Sorry, I need to go and… talk with someone for a moment. I’ll be back. DON’T try to escape!”

 

And, after that stern warning, he got up and moved hastily towards my left.

 

Geez, I wonder what made him so hasty…

 

I sat down on my bed, barely registering that I got up during my discussion – if I could call whatever happened with Blood that – and exhaled, loudly.

 

Checking myself, I could feel that only my thought-shielding was still on and my communication between the three of us – plus Tim – wasn’t active anymore. 

 

Honestly, I was tempted to try and see if I could find a break or a chink in the spells that blocked me from using my magic, but I managed to restrain that part of me long enough to simply stop.

 

For a few minutes.

 

Then boredom hit me and I gave a long look at my cell. Four walls, a floor, a ceiling, two neon lights on the ceiling. A window that took up half the wall on the opposite side of the glass-thing barrier that blocked me from getting out, looking out to space, the Earth in full view. It was an incredible sight.

 

What was that song?  [ I love the whole world and all its craziness… ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVP4l2dSyYw)

 

“Boom de yada, boom de yada.

Boom de yada, boom de yada...”

 

I stood there, just looking at the Earth for several minutes.

 

…

 

Then I got bored of that, too.

 

What can I say? I need constant stimulation. If I didn’t have something to do, boredom struck like a sledgehammer.

 

So, what to do, what to do…

 

The sound of hurried steps came from the hallway on the outside of my cell, relieving me of the responsibility of finding a way to entertain myself, especially because I was thinking that, actually, I could try to connect to the diamond sphere that wasn’t on me.  _ Technically _ it wasn’t using magic on the cell itself and,  _ technically _ , the sphere was already connected to me, so…

 

The appearance of Giovanni Zatara in front of my cell told me that things were going to get very interesting,  **very** fast.

 

***************************

 

I was kicking my feet to and fro while sitting on the bed in the infirmary, the computer on the other side of the room analyzing a drop of my blood against a drop of Zatara's and one of Blood's.

 

I was under surveillance, of course, but instead of Batman – like I expected – or Wonder Woman – the most logical choice, if you thought about it – it was Green Arrow.

 

Well, Jason Blood and Giovanni Zatara were in front of the computer, discussing the results and waving their wands and other mystical implements, but that was kind of obvious.

 

“So, what’s the name you are using?” Arrow’s voice made me focus on him, bow loosely held in his hands while he was leaning against the wall, looking at me from behind the mask.

 

I raised an eyebrow, before answering.

 

“Rhyme is my name.

You, I know by fame.”

 

“Ah, good… good...” and we fell into another silence. I returned to kick my feet, before moving my hand to my mask and removing it. The venetian jester mask shrunk down and fell on my chest, a thin chain turning it into a necklace. It was a good way for me and the others to keep it with us without attracting attention, so all of our masks had this effect.

 

The only change was that Roy’s turned into twin earrings that went on the arch of his ears, while Matthew’s turned into an eyebrow piercing over his left eye.

 

“It doesn’t match. Fully.” Zatara’s voice made me turn towards him, noticing how both he and Jason Blood were agitated.

 

“The resonance with you is indisputable, though. He is of your blood.”

 

“Yes. And yet, the way this resonance behaves is more like he is one step removed from me, like a nephew or...”

 

Mhhh… One step removed?

 

OH! Man, did the Light fuck up this time.

 

“So, just to ask and not to be a bother:

Does that mean you’re my grandfather?”

 

I fought really hard to keep the smile off my face, but the way Green Arrow's head snapped towards Zatara – and subsequent yelp of pain when one of his hands went to his neck to rub what was, probably, a pulled muscle in it – and the expression that was on Blood's face made it very hard.

 

Giovanni Zatara’s face, in contrast, had completely turned white, the blood having vanished completely. Then, it turned red and his expression was apocalyptic.

 

“Excuse me.  _ Tropelet. _ ” He kept his voice to a mild tone, but I could see and feel the unbridled fury that he was feeling. Then, he vanished into a puff of smoke.

 

_ Tropelet _ . Teleport. 

 

It was more convenient than my own magic, that’s for sure. Or, well, at least shorter.

 

Ehhhh, I had magic, what did I care if it’s mildly harder to use than another one? I still had  _ fucking  _ **_Magic_ ** .

 

The thought still made me giggle with joy.

 

“That was disturbing. Please don’t do it again.” Green Arrow’s words made me look at him, the expression on his face a grimacing one. I pointed to myself, a questioning look on my face.

 

“Yes. The way you giggle could scare small children. Please don’t do it again.” He seemed to be completely serious, so I nodded for a moment.

 

Then I exploded into a laugh right into his face.

 

His expression was priceless.

 

*************************

 

The interrogation room looked like a normal room at a first glance: two doors, window to space, metal table in the center with chairs. The difference was  that there weren’t anything different.

 

And, judging by the way Batman was eyeing me, I was pretty sure that there were a lot of tricks ready to go if I made any wrong move.

 

“Sit.”

 

I moved towards the chair in front of the heroes, slowly taking stock of who I was facing: Wonder Woman, Blood, Batman, and Martian Manhunter. Made sense.

 

My hands were encased in a slab of metal that blocked my hands completely, glowing sigils on it that also blocked my magic. They jingled when they met the table, as I sat down on the metallic chair.

 

“Green Arrow told us that your codename is Rhyme. Is that correct?” No-nonsense and straight to the point. Ok.

 

I nodded towards Batman, face schooled into a neutral expression. At the same time, I felt something poking the shields around my mind and slowly turned my head towards Martian Manhunter, face completely still, only turning my neck and not the rest of my body.

 

“Your mind-reading is making me irate.

Please stop trying. Or I will retaliate.”

 

Silence. The Batman nodded sharply towards J’onn and I felt the probe vanish from my shields. I also nodded, before turning towards Batman once again and cocking my head to the side, an unspoken question of ‘now what?’ hanging in the air.

 

“You brought danger into my city. I want to know why.”

 

...ok, fair. I nodded and pointed towards Wonder Woman.

 

“Would it be enough for your inner sleuth

If I answered under the Lasso of Truth?”

 

After a long, hard stare from the Bat, he jerked his head downwards in a nod, an action that made Wonder Woman take out the golden lasso – side note: it really glowed gold – and wrap one end around my arm.

 

“Why were you and your companions in Gotham City?”

 

His first question. Well, he had already expressed his desire to know, so.

 

“It was by chance, nothing more

Running from The Hunt’s war.”

 

I could feel the magic of the Lasso forcing me to speak the truth and so I did. I had very little to hide and a lot to gain if I managed to convince them that I wasn’t hostile.

 

“The Hunt?” Wonder Woman’s voice came from my left, making me turn slightly to see her. She had a far more gentle face than Batman – as much as I could see of his face, anyway – and she gave me an encouraging smile when she noticed that I was looking directly towards her.

 

Mhhh… how to explain the Wild Hunt… Oh! I could name drop Captain Marvel, it could work in my favor…

 

That was the moment when the door on the other side of the room opened, letting in Superman, Captain Marvel and Green Arrow, bringing with them…

 

“Heya Rhyme!” Matthew’s cheerful greeting was so jarring against the somber mood that made me smile. Behind him Roy facepalmed, but he couldn’t hide the smile that had developed on his lips.

 

“Why are they here?” Batman’s growl was enough to make Captain Marvel look sheepish, along with Superman, while Green Arrow had a very displeased expression on his face. He was the one to answer the question.

 

“They refused to talk until they saw each other. No matter what.” The frustration was pretty clear in his voice, especially if one considered the fact that he had a copy of his partner, deaged a few years, without any explanation how.

 

“Even so, bringing them here is against what we had agreed upon.”

 

Matthew chose to completely ignore everyone else and floated to my side of the table, before grabbing me in a hug that lifted me from the chair entirely. Then he crossed his legs in midair and put me on them. I sighed, only adjusting my arm so that the lasso wouldn’t cut into my circulation.

 

Roy shook his head and sat down on the chair that I had just vacated, looking at the group. Most of them were completely shocked – Superman more than anyone else, but J’onn and Green Arrow weren’t all that far back – while Wonder Woman had a smile on her face, along with Captain Marvel. Batman was stone faced as always, while Blood was…

 

Why was he glaring at Matthew? And not even subtly.

 

Thoughts for another moment.

 

“Ok, you are all together. Will you talk now?” Arrow’s voice came out dangerously close to a whine, arms crossed and scowl firmly in place, glaring at Roy. As for Roy, he seemed completely unaffected.

 

“Sure, sure, old man.” He shook his head, a smile on his face. “Man, you really got old, huh?”

 

“I’m not old!” Green Arrow’s reaction was instantaneous, as well as predictable. It was clear that Roy had done it to distract him from this whole situation, the only question was: why?

 

All the same, Batman growled and everyone stopped, turning towards him.

 

“How.” He gestured towards Matthew and Roy. “How are you two here? I know for certain that your last position was in Star City and several years older. And you. A blood sample proved that you are genetically identical to Superman and have been tampered with some sort of unknown energy.”

 

So they managed to see that I had worked my magic on him. At least he wasn’t dying?

 

“Clones.” Matthew’s voice made everyone turn towards him, the mood in the room at odds with the simple and smiley way he kept talking.

 

“I’m a clone of the big blue boyscout over here...” He pointed towards Superman, who was clearly unsure on how to take that. “While Roy’s… well, sorry to say this, Old Green...” I saw Arrow’s sputter at that nickname, but Matthew simply didn’t care and continued, “but the one that you have running around, being all edgy and daddy issues? Yeah, that’s the clone.”

 

A mere second after that, outrage was coming out of Green Arrow’s mouth, a full-on rant against Matthew that was almost impressive in the extensiveness.

 

“WHAT?!”

 

Everyone froze at that exclamation, before turning towards the door behind us. There, Kid Flash and Robin were standing in the middle of the frame, with Flash looking sheepish near them.

 

Behind them, the rest of the Young Justice – sans Artemis, as she wasn’t with them yet – was looking at us with more or less the same expression. Especially Conner, who was looking at Matthew as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.

 

I could feel my clone’s face light up with the strength of the sun, a smile spreading across his face, ready to wave and greet Conner. Batman spoke first.

 

“Flash. Explain why the Team is here when I gave you explicit orders to keep them  _ away _ .”

 

Flash winced, hurriedly speaking, “Well, you see...” before immediately starting to flounder for an answer, before his eyes went to Kid Flash and the light bulb turned on over his head. Metaphorically.

 

“Ah, yes! Kid Flash’s skin is blue and he told me that it was the kid that did this to him. And as both Blood and Zatara were busy…”

 

Batman’s glare was enough to shut him up, but that only allowed Robin to speak up.

 

“Wait up! That can wait...”

 

“What?!”

 

“Shush Kid, this is more important. What do you mean that Roy is a clone?!”

 

Whooops. I looked at my Roy, shrugging minutely. He looked at me with the question if I was really going to make him explain. Matthew squeezed me a bit, before moving a hand and nodding towards Roy. He glared towards us, before crossing his arms and cocking his head to the side.

 

“Are they communicating telepathically?” I heard Captain Marvel ask and the voice of J’onn answered.

 

“Not that I can detect. They seem to just know each other very well.”

 

Really? I glanced at the other two, who simply looked at me with eyes wide open and shrugged.

 

If they say so. Still, it seems that it will fall to me to explain everything.

 

“It is simple: the villains had it arranged

that Roy got kidnapped and exchanged.

They took his arm and created a clone

In a laboratory programmed and grown.”

 

I tapped my head on my temples, a sad smirk on my face, before going on.

 

“And to add insult to injury, here’s the worst fact:

As the villains command, he must obey and act.”

 

Silence fell for a moment, before Kid Flash opened his mouth, an angry expression on his face.

 

“You’re lying. It’s not possible that Roy would betray us!” Were those tears?

 

“Your objection is easily quashed:

Roy’s clone has been brainwashed.

And if you still don’t believe his fate,

Just call him here and I’ll demonstrate.”

 

Silence. Just to hammer home what I was saying, I raised my hand with the golden lasso still around it. I admit that my smile was a tad more cruel than it should’ve been, but I was kinda salty that I was still in chains.

 

“Green Arrow.” Batman’s voice surprised everyone, our attention turning to him. “Call Red Arrow here.”

 

That caused a ruckus.

 

“What?! Come ON, Batman! You can’t believe what they are saying...!”

 

“Batman...”

 

“They must be tricking us...”

 

“It doesn’t matter what I believe or what they believe. The lasso didn’t stop him from saying it and that’s enough for me to consider it a reasonable concern.” His tone was one of finality, brooking no arguments whatsoever.

 

His stare towards Green Arrow was also enough to make him glare at me and then move away, before taking out a communicator and speaking in it quietly.

 

******************************

 

The wait time passed in chilled silence, with almost everyone glancing at us with a mixture of expressions: Kid Flash and Robin kinda angry, Aqualad calculating, Miss Martian still blushing and not looking at me, and Conner looking at the still floating Matthew with a frown on his face.

 

The older heroes weren’t that much better, only less on the anger spectrum and more on the curiosity part of it. Except for Captain Marvel, who was simply waiting, a smile on his face, his default expression.

 

Then, the door swished open with a hiss, Red Arrow entering the room with Green Arrow at his side.

 

“I’m here. What was so important that...” he trailed off when he saw us. Well, our Roy, specifically, but he still shut up.

 

“Is this a joke?” His voice was flat, with an undercurrent of anger. Batman reacted almost immediately.

 

“No, it is not. We just received a piece of information that we consider critical and it regards you. Please come here.” He pointed at the chair on the other side of the table, in front of us. And when Batman spoke to you in that tone of voice, even if you were a rebel-programmed clone from the Light, you did what he said.

 

So Clone!Roy – from now on called C!Roy for ease of thinking – walked and sat down with his typical rebel attitude, crossing his arms and looking at the younger original in front of him.

 

“Well?” His voice came out into a harsh bark, his eyes glaring at Original!Roy – from now on called Roy because I liked him more – pretty clearly even from behind his mask.

 

“Why are you looking at me? He called you here.” He pointed his cyborg thumb towards me. That caused C!Roy to fix me with an incredulous look on his face.

 

“You?!” His tone of voice was incredulous as well. I raised my eyebrow at him.

 

“Yes. Wait, you don’t believe me.

No matter, in a minute you will see.”

 

“And he even speaks in  _ rhymes _ , Jesus Christ! What, you’re Doctor Seuss?”

 

I narrowed my eyes at that, before answering.

 

“I’m no Dr. Seuss, but you should stay on the straight and narrow,

Because what I’m gonna say will chill you down to the marrow:

The Light got you from a secret lab, you cloned  _ Broken Arrow. _ ”


	21. Chapter 21: Interrogations and Talks

The change was not instantaneous, but very nearly. C!Roy looked at me like I was crazy for a moment, before his entire face went expressionless.

 

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Green Arrow shouted, launching himself towards me, a look of incredulity on his face. It was only thanks to Flash’s reaction that he didn’t manage to reach me.

 

Beyond that, my little trick… Well...

 

It caused quite the tumult between the members of the League, who stared at me with hard eyes, before Superman moved forward, hard look on his face and clearly fighting to remain in control.

 

“How do you know this?”

 

Right. That question. Mmhh…

 

“I know many things. Things that were, things that are

And things that may be. My sight extends to the future far.”

 

Everyone looked at me with some sort of incredulity, calculation or simple disbelief. I kept my face completely expressionless.

 

Then Matthew snickered, Roy facepalmed and I smiled so big that I showed all of my teeth.

 

“Yeah, no. It’s simpler than that. Rhyme here,” Matthew bounced me up and down on his leg a couple of times, earning him a very dry look from me, “He’s just a dimensional traveler from a place where we are all fictional characters.”

 

“Well, to give Caesar his due

What can I say? It is true.”

 

Yeah, that caused even more problems.

 

************************************************

 

It took several hours to resolve the whole situation, in between the movement of the heroes. Young Justice as a whole was sent away somewhere on the station – after Blood had returned Wally’s skin to normal colors – and most of the heroes were either sent to monitor the Earth or back to their cities.

 

Superman was looking at Match with clear upset, his face a see-through mask. Wonder Woman was smiling. Batman was stone faced and silent.

 

Blood was alternating between looking at me with a kind of constipated look on his face and then glaring at Matthew – who was still keeping me in his lap – and Roy – who was alternating between grabbing my hand and looking at me – with the same strange look on his face.

 

J’onn was scandalized. It was kind of what hit me as stranger, honestly. But it was probably because the way that Matthew was telling him how we – me and Roy – managed to bring him back from feral-ness.

 

He didn’t approve, it seemed.

 

“Do you realize how stupid what you did was?! You could have collapsed all the minds between you three, reducing yourselves to vegetables or, worse, turn you all into feral abominations!”

 

I looked at him and… well, didn’t do anything. I wasn’t sure what to do, actually.

 

“Yeah, well, we didn’t exactly have any other choice. Rhyme here...” Roy pointed at me with his cyborg arm, “tends to act and then deal with the fallout. And, after that, he thought about what he did.”

 

Hey! That’s… I glared at him. The redhead simply arched an eyebrow at me, making me sigh in exasperation. Point taken.

 

“And… your arm?” Green Arrow was back. They had interrogated C!Roy before returning to us to remove the hypnosis. After that we removed all we could from his programming, of course. It was an interesting exercise, especially because Zatara came back in the middle of the proceedings, looked at what was happening and turned tail, leaving once again.

 

Then again and again, several tens of minutes in between any visit.

 

I wasn’t sure what his problem was.

 

“I made a deal with him.” Roy said and, again, he pointed at me. That sent Blood into a conniption fit.

 

“A deal? You made a deal with a half-demon?! Do you have any idea of what could happen?” He was almost shouting. Which was kind of strange, he didn’t seem the type.

 

I shrugged at his panic and answered.

 

“A simple deal, without a lot of fuss or gab:

I give back his arm, he helps me escape the lab.”

 

That calmed him almost instantly and he retired back, leaving the others to their interrogation. Batman took back control of the situation.

 

“A deal with him gave you that arm?” Another voice came from the door, making all of us turn. And there, in all his normal glory, stood Conner.

 

With Tim Drake’s hand in his own, keeping him close and looking like they were… cuddling?

 

Silence. Except for a small  [ robin ](https://www.beautyofbirds.com/images/birds/RedcappedRobin.jpg) that was on the kid’s shoulder, chirping somewhat pointedly. I turned my eyes to it and received only a glare from the little bird.

 

This was getting way too absurd for me.

 

“Yes, I did. He would get me back my arm and I would help him escape the laboratory. He delivered, I delivered and that’s it.” The end of the sentence was aimed at Blood, who simply glared back. Matthew cuddled me harder while smiling at Conner, prompting Blood to glare at him.

 

Tim moved a bit closer to Conner and raised his arms up, making the younger kryptonian clone grab him and raising him up in his arms almost absentmindedly.

 

“And is giving arms back the only thing you can do?”

 

I opened my mouth to answer, but Blood interrupted me.

 

“Whatever you are thinking, making a deal with a demon – or half demon – it’s not worth it.” His tone was pretty stony, completely blocking any possibility of discussion. I looked at him, before turning back towards Conner and shrugging.

 

I mean, he was not  _ wrong _ , so…

 

I shrugged towards the other superpowered teen in the room, before pointing at the adults. If they said no… I mean, I could and would make a deal if he really insisted, but I would do it out of their sight. Mostly because, as far as I was concerned, Superman had waived his right to dictate what Superboy could do when he refused to even talk to him.

 

Petty as fuck, but no one said that I wasn’t petty, so…

 

Conner looked mulishly towards us, before turning towards the door and heading out. Only to stop when Zatara marched inside, a girl Robin’s age with slightly tanned skin and long, black hair followed him. She stopped for a moment to ogle Superboy, before her father grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the table.

 

Towards me.

 

I looked at all my DNA donors in the same room and felt the awkwardness creep up my spine.

 

Blood, Zatara, Zatanna, Superman, Green Arrow, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman were all together. I wasn’t sure when Batman had left the room, but I really couldn’t care about it right now. 

 

“Well, here he is. Try,” Giovanni Zatara said to his daughter, pointing at me, an imperious look on his face.

 

No explanation on what she should try on me, obviously. I glared at him, with absolutely no effect.

 

Zatanna looked at me for a moment, before sighing and rolling her eyes. “ _ Ekam mih wolg fi eh si ym tcerid tnadnecsed. _ ”

 

Ok, I was a teeny tiny bit envious of her ability to cast magic by only speaking backwards. If I was trying to cast… whatever she was trying to cast, I would need at least two lines of rhymes. Also, ekam mih wolg? Make… Him…

 

I started to glow purple a moment later.

 

And really, that only prompted another meltdown.

 

***********************************************

 

So, apparently, being the first-born descendants of an ancient and respected mage family like the Zataras was kind of a big deal. Still, I was feeling a tad bit offended that they were talking about me while I was in the same room.

 

Also, I still had my hands shackled, so my magic was still restrained. Roy and Matthew expressions morphed into looks of alarm, but I, frankly, had enough.

 

“I’m tired, I’m angry, I’ve had enough.

Beyond that, I’m still in handcuffs tough.

Either jail me for something I did

Or free me and have this iron rid.

You’re talking like I can’t hear you

But I’m here and I certainly do!”

 

My outburst was enough to make everyone still inside the room stop whatever they were doing – Zatanna and her father arguing, Blood looking at them, Green Arrow and Superman just commiserating together (apparently), Wonder Woman looking over all of us and Martian Manhunter blinking towards me – and look at me.

 

Then they looked at Matthew and Roy in a moment of curiosity. And that, honestly, was enough to make me fight to keep my last shreds of calm before I exploded – literally, not just metaphorically.

 

I snapped my fingers and jangled the manacles around my wrists harshly, making it echo in the room and all that had enhanced senses – Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Matthew – wince at the sound.

 

Then I looked at them with an expectant look on my face.

 

With something like embarrassment on their faces, Blood got up and moved towards me, a key in his hand.

 

“Yeah, I guess. Sorry kid, I kind of forgot with all that happened...” I graciously accepted his apologies. I knew that the information I dropped on them was pretty heavy to deal with, so forgetting something was understandable. Still, I was there all that time and I refused to be treated like a criminal when I did nothing wrong.

 

Boarding a train illegally and stealing from a jewelry store notwithstanding.

 

After the manacles around my wrists clicked open, I finally could stretch my arms without having to raise that hunk of metal, and a faint purple energy returned to my hands, crackling for a moment before vanishing.

 

Then something echoed in the distance. Something like glass breaking and metal shrieking.

 

I blinked, surprised, before turning towards the origin of the sound, along with everyone else. Then, silence for several long moments.

 

“What was th-OUCH!” Roy’s question got interrupted when the diamond sphere that had rocketed here from wherever they had stashed it bounced against his head and landed in my hands.

 

“Well, that was rather fast.

It came back with a blast.”

 

“And hit me! Again!” the redhead was rubbing the back of his head, glaring at me with a murderous expression, completely ignoring the surprised welp of  _ ‘Again?!’ _ from Green Arrow. I smiled at him innocently, before turning towards Blood.

 

“My broom, my focus and my backpack.

I have created them and I want them back.”

 

“Wait, created? Are you saying that you made that sphere and the hourglass by yourself?” Zatara’s voice interrupted Blood even before he could say anything, only making me turn towards him and give him a puzzled look. In the background, Green Arrow was still talking,  _ ‘Hellooo?! What do you mean again?!’ _

 

“Yes? Is creating what I need so strange?

I took what I needed and made a change.”

 

“Creating magical object isn’t something that can be done without expertise! You need the right time, the right materials, not just glass or whatever you used! I’m surprised that it didn’t explode in your face!” He seemed pretty serious about this. I shrugged.

 

“I just used magic and imagination,

Add folklore. That’s the foundation.

Beyond that, use energy a lot

And with a dash of free thought.”

 

I winced at the last rhyme. That was kinda nonsensical. And, judging by the way that everyone was looking at me, they got lost on the last word. Lucky for me that Matthew was there, then. As was Roy, but he had his maniacal face one – the one he had last night(?) when he was planning against the Fae – so I simply let him scheme.

 

“He means that you need to focus on the end result. Use a lot of magic, imagination and maybe take hints from legends or folklore, like he did with the broom.” His half smile was downright charming – and a bit strange – on his face and the way he cuddled me made Blood, Superman  _ and _ the Zatannas shiver.

 

Green Arrow was still trying to talk to us,  _ ‘Seriously guys, could you stop ignoring me? I want an answer!’ _ , sadly being ignored. Completely.

 

Seriously, what was their problem?

 

“Hey, Ollie?” Roy  _ ‘casually’ _ asked to Green Arrow, making him turn towards him with an intense, laser-like focus.

 

“Yes?” He didn’t even seem particularly worried, only interested. Judging by the look on Roy’s face, I was almost pitying him.

 

“I admit that there is a bit of problem that I didn’t really tell you all, mainly because I was pretty embarrassed by it, but now that I saw you again, I remembered the way you told me that I could always count on you when I was worried and I needed help. Is it... still like that? Even.. even with my… clone?” his voice went all wobbly and unsure on the last part of the phrase, sending the green-clad blond into a panic fit.

 

“What are you saying? Clone or no clone, you are still my partner! It’s me that should apologize for not finding out what happened before all this!” He seemed to be on the verge of tears. The others were clearly uncomfortable from the emotional display that the two were showing.

 

Except Wonder Woman and Martian Manhunter, of course. They just looked amused.

 

“Then, are you still willing to help me?” I must admit that Roy was pretty good at using his puppy eyes, even if he still looked right in the middle of his teenage years.

 

He just had that kind of bone structure that made him look older than he really was, I guess.

 

“Anything!” Oliver Queen signed his own screwing without a second thought and, honestly, I understood where the redhead was going only in that moment.

 

“You see, in our escape from the lab, after we got out… we were kinda scared. And confused. We managed to reach the train station, but we caused… a small accident. Could you help with that? With the repairs and the damages?” I could swear that there were a couple of tears in his eyes.

 

Oliver nodded frantically “Absolutely. No problem. The train station in Washington, right? I’ll pull up the information and take care of it right now!”

 

And he marched away, chest puffed up and moving fast. He moved in the grave silence of the room, our expressions stony, until he was out of the door. The silence lingered for several seconds after his exit.

 

And then Matthew, Roy and I fell to the ground laughing.

 

“What… just happened?” Martian Manhunter asked, confused. Along with the Zatannas and Superman.

 

“I think,” Wonder Woman smirked while she answered, “that Green Arrow just got duped by the trio right there.” Blood nodded, his mouth twitching.

 

“Yes. Giovanni, did you see that ball? It’s not crystal or glass. It’s diamond.” His voice carried a hint of… pride? Schadenfreude? I wasn’t sure. It was kinda nice, though.

 

“Diamond?” Zatara’s eyebrow rose until vanished into his hair, while Zatanna whistled, long and high.

 

“Diamond and gold are the best prime material

When he works to create and join solid and ethereal.”

 

“Gold? I… the hourglass. It’s all made of diamond and gold? Even the sand?” I nodded at his stupefied expression, my smile overtaking my face.

 

“Well, I’m getting kinda hungry. Anyone have any walnuts?” Matthew’s voice interrupted our discussion, only to let me and Roy pay attention to the way our stomachs were rumbling.

 

“Follow me, I’ll show you were the cafeteria is. If there is still something, what with two Flashes together...” Wonder Woman’s smirk was still on her face, before she gestured to us to follow her.

 

**********************************************

 

The cafeteria was large: several long tables all arranged in neat rows, with a huge window that opened on outer space on the other side of the door.

 

On the left, a counter arranged in a buffet-style spread, the food held in containers that were, apparently, sealed at the appropriate temperatures. On the right, doors towards two bathrooms and then two more, but I had no idea where they went.

 

All of us managed to get something to eat, the quantity inside clearly diminished by the two human vacuums – Flash and Kid Flash were still eating on one table under the fascinated and horrified gazes of Miss Martian and Conner. Tim was on his shoulder, idly looking at the Earth outside the windows.

 

The robin was on his head. I had a strange flashback to the Musicians of Bremen: they only missed one member. Maybe Superman?

 

I almost snickered at the mental image, before focusing on the food. I admit that I was waiting for it, as my suddenly rumbling stomach made me well aware. It has been a while since my last meal.

 

So I took my sweet time choosing what to eat, ending with a cheeseburger, mashed potatoes, green beans, orange juice and even cake.

 

No, I had no idea why they had cake. And I didn’t care anyway. The important thing was that there was dessert.

 

After I managed to free myself from the hold that Matthew had on me, I tried to move the tray where I had put all of my food on, only managing to raise it a bit, before I felt my arms tremble.

 

Apparently I was still pretty weak in the brawn department. Ok then.

 

_ “Tray laden with food that is all mine _

_ Follow me to my table and let me dine.” _

 

A faint purple spark of energy jolted from my fingers to the tray, that started to levitate. With a satisfied smile, I moved to a table somewhat far away from the Flashes and started to eat. Soon, Roy and Matthew joined me with their food.

 

“...I still don’t understand how he managed to turn my skin blue. He wasn’t in possession of anything at the time and there was no residue. I tested it! Also, how could Mr. Blood remove it? It doesn’t make sense!”

 

He was still in the disbelief stage, uh? Ok. Then it was time for another small prank, it seemed.

 

_ “Rhyme it well, rhyme it true _

_ Paint his skin a green hue.” _

 

A small ray of purple magic left my finger and hit Kid Flash once again, making him shudder and turn towards me, stopping him in his eating.

 

Well, actually it turned everyone towards me. Before anyone could do or say anything, Kid Flash noticed what I had done.

 

“Aw, man! Not again. And green is sooo not my color-” He reached that point, before stopping and turning towards Miss Martian. “Not that I have anything against you, Miss Martian! It’s just that green with my hair makes me look like… like… the mascots on the Lucky Charms on Saint Patrick’s Day!”

 

While his bluster was amusing, there was someone who found it so funny that made him laugh. I turned towards Tim, a smile already forming on my face before I stopped.

 

Again, everyone stopped.

 

Because Tim, still on Conner’s shoulders, was laughing like the sound of crystal bells. And, all around him, several little bells made of silver and crystal started to appear, manifesting from thin air.

 

The various baubles rang in a choir with him, creating a counterpoint that made his laugh all the more enticing and pleasant to hear.

 

Conner, somehow, only looked fondly at him and absolutely not surprised.

 

Everyone else, on the other hand, was completely flabbergasted.


	22. Chapter 22: Overdue explanations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lateness.

 

“What the fuck?” The question came from a flabbergasted Flash, with a Kid Flash nodding at his side. I couldn’t do anything but agree.

 

What the fuck?

 

Seeing our reaction, Conner’s face soured instantly, his signature glare aimed at us. “What?”

 

Ok, things were returning to normal. Good.

 

“Heeeeey! You got a tiny magical friend too!” I turned towards Matthew, the surprise from before being replaced with even more surprise at what he said. Along with everyone else. Yes, that included Tim. And the rest of the Young Justice, heralded by Kid Flash, on the door.

 

“Yes.” Conner’s answer made my eye twitch for some reason. I wasn’t sure why, but being compared to a magical mascot that suddenly appeared in the life of a character and turned it head over heels, while making deals and involving them in something that they didn’t understand kind of offended me.

 

….wait a sec…

 

“I’m not a mascot, you sod!

And you, don’t you dare nod!”

 

I turned and pointed towards Matthew and Roy, in order, a frown on my face.

 

“I wasn’t going to, but you must admit that it’s kind of what you are, Rhyme.” Roy’s voice had a smile in it. It was clear as day that he was enjoying this. Matthew was smiling a terawatt smile, so it was  **obvious** that he was enjoying this.

 

I resolved to not tell them what I thought, ever. Specifically because it was the same thing as digging my own grave and then shooting myself.

 

“While the joke was funny… we would like some explanation. About what happened before, why you fought with us and what did you mean by dimensional traveler?” Kaldur’s voice stopped all the action in the room, making us three turn towards him.

 

He was pretty serious and flanked by the other members: Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, and Superboy. Even if he still had Tim on his shoulders.

 

I looked at Roy, then at Matthew, waiting for their input. It wasn’t, after all, just my story. They didn’t say or do anything, simply looking at me. Neutral.

 

I turned back towards the Team, ignoring a suddenly nervous Flash, and gestured towards Tim.

 

“We’ll share our story, as much as we can

If They explain why they are suddenly a clan.”

 

Silence. They did the same thing we did before, communicating with their eyes – and probably with Miss Martian’s telepathy – before Kaldur nodded, gravely.

 

“Very well. We’ll need to sit down and, knowing Rhyme, something sweet to eat.” A moment later, Kid Flash had filled a table with food for everyone and enough chairs for us to sit. I instantly took my place and started on a slice of cake.

 

“Everything started when I woke up from my forced coma with a voice in my head and unable to move. Not my legs, not my arms, not my eyes. Then, I started talking with someone that I couldn’t see and they told me that I was a prisoner in a secret lab under Cadmus Labs in Washington,” Roy said.

 

He dragged himself to the seat on my left, while Matthew sat down on my right. I could feel Roy’s cybernetic arm on my thigh, while Matthew’s left arm was around the back of my chair and shoulders. I twitched and nodded slightly.

 

Now that I thought about that time again… It wasn’t a nice thing to remember.

 

“It took Rhyme several days, I think three or four, before he stopped fainting all the time. He didn’t have enough energy to do all what he was trying to do and kept blacking out. And leaving me alone in my head for a lot of the time.”

 

That was said with a grumble, but I could read the undertone of it: don’t do it again, you worried me, what if you were scrapped before we managed to escape? Et cetera. Yeah, he was right.

 

“...After that, we found Match’s pod, where he was frozen in stasis inside. Communicating with him telepathically was impossible, he was….” The redhead turned towards Matthew with a worried look, checking how the story was affecting our Kryptonian clone. He seemed completely unconcerned, except for the fact that I could feel the tension of the arm on my shoulders.

 

“Well, there is no real way to put things except for the way it was: he was feral. Unable to speak, unable to recognize words….”

 

The reactions of the Team to this were varied, but all about horror or anger. Especially Conner. Matthew shrugged.

 

“I got better. I mean, they risked their lives to make me better and their gamble worked.”

 

“Gamble?” Robin’s voice was a whip made of cold suspicion, his eye mask narrowing. I concluded my cake and passed to a series of small pastries.

 

“Oh, I was unstable. Physically, I mean, not just mentally. I would have started to degrade in… one year? Or, more realistically, six months. So.” The brunet smiled sardonically at Conner, who was wearing a horrified expression. Well, all of them were, really.

 

“While I may be able to fly, have all the strength and all the powers, without them I would be a goner. So. It seems that you are the successful clone.” He shrugged after that, simply letting the whole thing go.

 

It was only because he was clearly uncomfortable in discussing that that the others didn’t ask anything, even if Kid Flash was clearly exploding with questions. But they managed to restrain themselves and Roy could go on with the explanation.

 

“We escaped when you breached the Lab, managed to find our way to the station and...” here, he sighed, aggravated.

 

“What?” Wally asked, along with Flash. Everyone turned towards him, making him balk a bit and cross his arms in front of his chest. “What? I can’t be involved in the safety of someone else beyond Kid Flash?”

 

He seemed pretty offended. I didn’t know what the others were thinking, but I was pretty sure that he was just curious. Still, he was one of the best heroes, morally speaking, surpassed only by Captain Marvel. So.

 

...All in my opinion, of course…

 

“Nothing. Basically, THEY robbed a jewelry store to create a distraction and we took one of the trains that carries supplies to Star City. Thinking back now, it was pretty stupid. We could have contacted the League from the start ¬ or at least Green Arrow – but… well, I can only say that we weren’t really thinking straight.”

 

And he was right. Stress from the escape, the threat of the Light, the attack in Fawcett City and, after that, the Wild Hunt… We didn’t have a moment to relax in… well, since the time we were still in the pods. Which is a pretty sad thing.

 

I moved to some crème brûlée, while Roy explained what happened in Fawcett CIty and how the whole thing had turned into the set of a horror film. What we did and what we saw, the monstrosities that only one of them had managed to create by using an innocent elementary school.

 

How I managed to defeat him, thanks to a very dangerous gamble. Captain Marvel’s intervention, his apprehension of the other four…

 

Now that I thought about it, I needed to ask him what happened to them.

 

“We took the first train out of the city and we found ourselves in Gotham. Once we were there, we started preparing for the attack we were sure would come. And we did it as best as we could, in secret.”

 

“Yeah, that’s what I don’t understand. Why the secrecy? By that point, you could have called one of the League or even just Captain Marvel. Why try to handle everything by yourselves?” Robin’s question was what all of them wanted to know, it was clear. The answer wouldn’t be one that would satisfy them.

 

“I don’t have a good reason. I have several justifications, but not a good reason. In the end, it was a mix of several factors, all piling up one over another, several smaller things that turned huge before I could realize. Same reason we fought with you all instead of talking or retreating. We needed a way to let out some pressure before we snapped.”

 

“Snapped is the right word...” Kid Flash murmured, his cheek turning a darker green. Probably thinking back to my little attack.

 

I couldn’t resist the temptation to smile viciously, which everyone noticed. Miss Martian glared.

 

“That was underhanded.” she harrumphed, crossing her arms. Everyone turned towards her, before turning towards me in shock.

 

**“That was you?!”** I smirked at their collective question and nodded, starting to attack a stick of nougat.

 

“Oh, please, don’t tie yourselves in knots

Just because I’ve had some twin thoughts.”

 

“That…!” Miss Martian lost her words halfway her indignation, the blushing returning in full force. I shrugged and pointed towards Kid Flash with the spoon from the crème brûlée.

 

_ “Rhyme it well and rhyme it true. _

_ From his skin remove the green hue.” _

 

And Wally got back his normal skin tone. I waved whatever protest or thanks or anything else they were going to say and returned to my nougat. After that, there was some fudge and that would have glued my mouth shut, so I wanted to get this out of the way first.

 

“Anyway...” Roy sent me a glare, the message of keeping my mouth shut loud and clear. “After that, you know how it went: we managed to escape the Hunt until we had to barricade ourselves in the church outside of the city, then we ‘talked’ with one of the Lords and we had to make a deal. Mainly because Tim there was inside with us at the time.”

 

The black-haired boy nodded from his perch on Conner’s shoulders, face solemn.

 

“What kind of deal?” Kaldur’s question made us blink for a moment.

 

“He wanted a Name. Well, a future Name.” I saw several eyebrows reaching the hairlines of… well, everyone.

 

“A name? What, like Humphrey or Hogart or something?” Robin’s question was enough to cut the tension, but not for long. Roy’s scoffed at his suggestion.

 

“Hardly. No, he wanted something more interesting. Like Robin.”

 

Yeah, that shut them all up. Undeterred, Roy kept explaining.

 

“For what I understood, he wanted the alias of someone. Like Arsenal or Match or Robin or Aqualad, just to take some examples. After that, he would get all the power and everything else that was associated with it. Apparently, Tim is the future Robin.”

 

Everyone’s stare turned towards Tim, who simply shrugged and shook his head.

 

“No, I’m not. Anymore.”

 

O….k. Why? Apparently, Tim felt my quizzical stare, since he explained a moment later.

 

“That Title… is gone. It was consumed when the Lord of Tomorrow’s Dawn betrayed his word. His being was judged and found guilty. I got his Titles and Essence in repairs, but Robin – as a title – has been paid. It was the cost for judging him, so to speak.”

 

The sheer  _ weight _ of what he had just said fell on all of us with the grace of a lead blanket. Our reaction to that information was… to stay silent. We weren’t sure what to say, me least of everyone else. Tim Drake not being Robin? Red Robin?

 

It was… The sheer implications alone…

 

“What happened later? What did you say to the Justice League?” Kaldur’s voice brought us all back into the present, making us focus on him. He was serious and, while there was a hint of pain from having lost something he will never know, he still had the focus of a commander. Keeping us all on track.

 

“What did we say to the Justice League...” Roy’s voice took an almost absent quality, clearly narrating and remembering at the same time.

 

“We spoke the truth, as much as we could, obviously. Everything started after you got sent out of the room...”

 

_ ****************A Few Hours Ago...********************* _

 

_ “Robin. Team. Out.” Batman’s voice didn’t allow for any argument whatsoever, his whole posture blocking any attempt of discussion. With a heavy frown on their faces, the whole team got out of the room. _

 

_ “Wait.” Blood’s voice stopped them, attracting all the attention to him. “Before you go...” And he gestured towards Kid Flash, saying something in Latin. His skin returned to his normal pink color, not blue anymore. _

 

_ “Now you can go.” They didn’t have a lot of options. So they went. After that, Batman sat back down in front of us, turning his eyes towards us. _

 

_ The mask was really good at making him appear intimidating. _

 

_ “Now, in order: dimensional traveler, whatever happened to you and what about Red Arrow.” No chance of arguing. I nodded slowly, most as a sign to the others than an acknowledgment of what Batman had requested. _

 

_ Then passed the Lasso of Truth to Matthew and let him talk. He was the one who had all my knowledge, after all. _

 

_ Even if he didn’t remember everything. _

 

_ “Well, I have a lot of Rhyme’s memories from when they have resolved my mind problems, so I guess it’s my turn to explain, uh? Basically, he died in his original world. I think a car crash? No, a BUS crash. Anyway, while he was on his way towards… somewhere, something red and sharp – at least, his memories hinted at something that hurt, somewhat – grabbed him and pushed him into his current body. Then there was the escape from the lab, the train, Fawcett City, the Wild Hunt and Gotham… and then we were here.” He concluded the – incredibly succinct and very bare bones – summary of what happened to me with a shrug. _

 

_ Batman, apparently, considered that good enough, because he nodded and moved on. _

 

_ “What about Red Arrow?” He gestured towards the archer, still catatonic and waiting. For that question, I took a grip on the Lasso and started saying towards them what I knew. _

 

_ “He’s the unwitting creation _

_ Of a secret Villain Association. _

_ Ra’s al Ghul, Lex Luthor and Queen Bee; _

_ Klarion, Black Manta and Vandal Savage. _

_ They will go on a criminal distraction spree _

_ So that the League will be ready to ravage. _

_ Mind Control is their play, from under the sea _

_ Using Starro Tech, a starfish alien, you’ll see. _

_ Prince Orm’s their accomplice, his hate for his brother _

_ Deep enough that he will abduct his nephew’s mother _

_ Try to kill her with a trident most arcane, _

_ Before turning face and sympathy feign.” _

 

_ I had to stop and take a deep breath, forcing myself to not listen to the graveyard silence that had fallen on the whole room. My grip on the Lasso got tighter and it was only the presence of Roy and Matthew at my sides that let me go on. _

 

_ Honestly, I was scared shitless. But this was too important to not say. _

 

_ “The Light’s plan is not just that. _

_ There’s another plan they’re working at. _

_ Five years of time, an alien invasion, the worst type of Leech. _

_ You can ask the Green Lanterns what they know about the Reach.” _

 

_ “Luthor...” Superman’s whisper was filled with something that I couldn’t really understand. It was longing and anger and exasperation and resignation. _

 

_ “They will pose as allies to trick them _

_ Only to be tricked like bottom scum.” _

 

_ “Yeah, that’s Luthor all right. Always thinking that he is the smartest one in the room… or in the universe, it seems.” The boy scout's words were surprisingly cynical for him. On the other hand, Luthor was his arch-enemy, so he may be a little bit tired of having to fight against him all the time. _

 

_ “I’m assuming that the Reach is going to present themselves as benevolent, before revealing their plan?” Batman’s question brought me back to the matter at hand and I nodded back at him. He was right, after all. _

 

_ “That… Well, it makes matters difficult. You gave us a lot of information, so we will need some time to investigate. You can let go of the Lasso now.” _

 

_ I had to consciously release my hand, knuckles white from my grip, before I kind of… let myself sag a bit back on the chair. Matthew started cuddling me instantly, while Roy looked at the assembled heroes with a calculating gaze hidden behind his stoic facade. _

 

_ “Now, I have some questions for you. To expand on some events.” Apparently what I said wasn’t enough for Batman, as he started asking several questions about the information I gave him. _

 

_ It was a pretty tiring couple of hours, especially when we started quizzing C!Roy about what he knew. The way they had completely and utterly broken a human being – clone or not – was revolting. _

 

_ I was pretty sure that he would have several problems to resolve after this day. I just hoped that Sanctuary existed here, because if it doesn’t… And he had to want to go there. _

 

_ ************************End Flashback**************************** _

 

“...and that’s what happened.” Roy’s voice trailed out, getting a glass of juice and drinking it down.

 

The Team – and Flash – was looking at us with horrified looks on their faces, almost unable to believe what we were telling them. Like they wanted us to come out and tell them that it was a joke.

 

And I didn’t even tell them what happened to Miss Martian, Aqualad, Kid Flash…

 

Better not to say anything. With a bit of luck, none of that would come to pass.

 

“Now it’s your turn to share your story, little bro-slash-nephew. How did you meet with your tiny, magical friend?” Matthew’s cheery, almost obnoxious voice snapped everyone awake from their reverie and made all turn towards Conner. Who was now scowling, of course.

 

I  **still** wasn’t happy about the nickname, for the record. No matter how appropriate.

 

“Why?” An answer that I really should have seen coming. Still, I was pretty curious now. I mean, why would Tim Drake be on the Watchtower now? Without having any kind of connection with either Batman or us?

 

“Sharing is caring!” Our clone’s answer didn’t really convince him, but the reactions of his teammates was another story.

 

“Actually… We are pretty curious about that. Would you mind sharing?” Kaldur’s voice was still the calm tone that he had managed to keep, somehow, throughout our whole retelling, even when we reached Prince Orm’s and Black Manta’s part. Kudos to him for being a well adjusted commander? Or something.

 

Maybe it was the military training.

 

“Fine. It’s not like there’s much to say about it. After the League had kicked us out of the interrogation room, we split up. Robin and Kid Flash went exploring while you and Miss Martian went to the training room. I went looking around.”

 

He had all of our attention now, something that made him a bit uncomfortable, clearly. I was almost sorry for him, but my curiosity was strong enough to overtake that.

 

“I passed this room, before taking a left after and, after a couple of passages, I ended up in the infirmary, where he was sitting on a bed.” He pointed his thumb at Tim, with the child simply smiling in answer and gripping his hair.

 

Not like he was hurting him…

 

“We started to.. talk and… well, after a while he got hungry. So I brought him here, to eat. The end.”

 

I’m not sure what tipped me off. Maybe it was Conner’s expression, so uncomfortable over something that was, in the end, completely innocent. Maybe it was Tim’s smile, which was just a bit sharper and more knowledgeable than a whatever year-old’s should be.

 

Maybe it was the fact that I remembered Conner finding me and asking me about deals, something that he literally had no way to know about.

 

Or, maybe, it was because I am part demon. I’m not sure even now. Still, I was absolutely sure of one thing.

 

“You’re not telling everything. Let’s be real:

You talked with him and then you made a deal.”

 

Conner froze. A brief look of panic came over his face, before Tim’s laugh stopped his panic before it could even start.

 

“And how fine are your senses! Yes, he made a deal with me. And he is now completely consequence free, thanks to you.”

 

His voice was the higher pitch of a small child, but it still had that strange undertone of bells as his laugh before. After saying that, he let go of Conner’s hair and rose up in the air like Peter Pan would do, along with fairy dust, the robin bird flapping its wings until it was on his head.

 

“I made a deal with him: full Kryptonian powers in exchange for the secrets of secrets inside his mind and his silence about it. With you knowing it, the deal is completely sealed, because he didn’t tell you anything about the deal. And I can talk about it, because only he was bound to secrecy.”

 

“What are the secrets of secrets?” Wally’s voice had a clear questioning undertone, making Tim cock his head to the side and shrug.

 

“This.” A crystal ball, very similar to my own, even if this one wasn’t made of diamond but just regular crystal, appeared in his hands, some sort of red fog in it. The mist turned into various letters, all jumbled together.

 

“And… what’s that?” Robin asked, hands deceptively crossed on his chest, while Miss Martian had rose a bit higher in the air, suddenly looking wary.

 

“The secrets of secrets hidden inside his mind.” A pretty unhelpful answer. The same as before, actually.

 

“And what does that mean?” This time it was Flash that asked, voice a bit harder than normal. Tim blinked at him, before smiling innocently.

 

“What was hidden even from him. The deepest, most obscure secrets that were locked in his subconscious. Thoughts and behavior that someone else had put in him, behind a door locked with a  _ Red Sun. _ ”

 

His smile was a knife edge in the dark, sharp as a stiletto and twice as deadly. And yet, as sweet as honey.

 

I answered in kind, all teeth and fangs, promises and secrets hidden behind them. And oh so tempting.


	23. Chapter 23: Rest & Relaxation

 

“No.”

 

The moment was shattered by Roy’s voice, who had a stern expression on his face, arms crossed in front of his chest.

 

“I don’t care if you are long-lost twins, two brothers separated by a cruel family, or two people that have never met before now. No. I’m not going to allow this.”

 

“This?” Flash’s voice interrupted Roy, his eyes looking at Roy with curiosity, before turning towards me and Tim.

 

The black-haired boy had stopped flying and was now on the chair on the other side of the table, straight in front of me, and he was looking at Roy.

 

“Them teaming up to make my life a living hell.”

 

I smiled and barely managed to suppress a chuckle in front of Roy’s seriousness, but he only gave me a withering glare.

 

“Every time,  _ every time _ you try to do something that isn’t the most boring or vanilla spell, something goes bad and I end up getting hurt.”

 

Robin whistled in half surprise, half admiration, turning his masked eyes towards me with a single eyebrow raised, a small, almost mocking smile on his lips. The others were either confused or surprised.

 

“Weee-eelll… no matter how much I want to support you, I must admit that Roy is kinda right.” Matthew decided to intervene, making me pout at them ruining my fun.

 

He just laughed and ruffled my hair.

 

“Nice to see that you actually have some sort of common sense in that hard head of yours.” Roy’s mutter wasn’t low enough to prevent everyone in the room hearing him. Conner, hilariously, looked far more offended than Matthew himself.

 

And then, Batman made his appearance from basically nowhere, coming straight behind Flash and making him jump what looked like at least two meters in the air.

 

“Holy…! Where did you come from!?” The red-clad superhero didn’t get an answer, his hand grabbing his heart, while the Caped Crusader looked at us.

 

Us meaning me, Roy and Matthew.

 

“What are your plans for the future?” His gruff voice came out in a low growl, making us all stiffen in surprise at the sudden question.

 

After exchanging a look, Roy got elected as speaker of our little group (again), with the responsibility to talk with the Batman about things like these. So, with a gulp of nervousness – Batman was Batman – he moved towards him.

 

“We want to be a team. A team of heroes.”

 

His conviction was evident to me and I was looking at his back, I could only imagine what kind of emotion was being transmitted by his face.

 

Batman looked into his eyes for several seconds, the atmosphere becoming heavier and heavier the more the silence stretched, until…

 

“Very well.” The black-clad superhero nodded curtly and gestured towards the Team.

 

“You’ll join the Team at Mount Justice as provisional members. We’ll test you and determine your level and how much training you need. If you pass the test, you will be inducted as provisional members and allowed to go on low-risk missions with the Team. After a probationary period, we will reassess the situation and, potentially, induct you as full members.”

 

Complete silence. Batman simply turned and stalked towards the door.

 

“Now hit the showers and someone will come and show you where you can sleep for tonight.”

 

The heavy air that Batman had brought with him lasted for a minute or two after his departure, before everyone started to chatter excitedly about what they had just heard.

 

Everyone, except for me, Matthew and Roy. We were all a bit… weirded out by his behavior. Still, it was a good occasion to get some formal training…

 

“Well, time to shower and go to bed, guys and gals! Chop chop, this way!” Flash decided to move things along and gestured towards one side of the Watchtower. 

 

Mechanically, I stood up and started following him, with Matthew right on my heels and Roy only barely behind, caught in a conversation with Kid Flash and Robin.

 

He looked pretty uncomfortable.

 

“Flash, right?” Matthew’s voice came up from behind me, attracting his attention. The adult turned his head towards him, acknowledging his question with a nod.

 

“Do you know what day is it?” Right, after everything that happened, I still didn’t know what day it was. And getting knocked out didn’t help at all.

 

“Uh… It’s Tuesday. 20th of July. Two-Thousand and Ten?” He seemed confused – apparently that was a theme today – by the question, but he answered all the same. Which was good.

 

Now, if only I could remember the timeline…

 

“Thanks.” Matthew smiled at him and kept walking.

 

*****************************************************************

 

**20th of July, 2010**

**Tuesday.**

**Watchtower’s Showers.**

**Evening.**

 

Somehow, in all this time, I only used magic to clean us. There wasn’t much time – or occasion – for us to actually stop and take a bath or a shower, so magic was the answer.

 

Still, being under a jet of warm water left you feeling cleaner even when I knew that magic was more efficient. I wasn’t a machine, though, so efficiency wasn’t everything I needed from life.

 

So, shower. The water was coming down on me with a soft hiss, hot enough to be felt down to the bones but not to scald. I was busy combing through my hair with hair conditioner, keeping my eyes firmly towards the wall in front of me.

 

To my right, Matthew was reading the instructions on the bottle of shampoo while standing under the jet of water. I prayed that he understood by himself.

 

“Alex?” Apparently I wasn’t in good standing with whatever Higher Power belonged to this reality.

 

The Source Wall, I think?

 

I nodded to him to signal that I was listening, while closing my eyes and giving my hair another comb to be sure that I had covered them all.

 

“Want me to wash your hair?” I stumbled from standing still, before turning towards him, an incredulous look on my face.

 

And a smirk on his face. The… the… he had just pranked me.

 

I glared at him with all the strength that I could muster – while definitely not looking at the strong slope of his shoulder, the firmness and size of his biceps, the way the water was bringing out the shape of his pectorals and abdominals, the way his skin looked so soft – and turned the other way.

 

And if I was a bit red in the face, well… The water was hot.

 

My turning, however, brought my eyes on Roy. He was already washing himself, methodically. He kind of sped up for a moment, before stopping and slowing down, to enjoy the water, before speeding up again, unconsciously.

 

Before I could notice anything in particular – his shoulder firm with muscles, his back well-defined through archery, the taper of his waist... my eyes fell on the cybernetic arm.

 

I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it before, due to a combination of things: the situation we were in, the way that I didn’t want to look at it, the rollercoaster of events…

 

Now, however, I could analyze it. When the water hit it, for example, the sleek, glass-like surface would erupt in rainbow spots for a moment before vanishing. So, under the shower it was a riot of colors that was very pretty to look at it.

 

Roy looked a bit weirded out by that.

 

After that, though, my eyes rose until I set them where it was joined with his elbow. The magically manipulated metal and mechanical parts had completely fused with his body, tendrils of the same glass-like substance running for a bit upwards along the line of his scars, before thinning and vanishing.

 

“Roy, I didn’t think to ask before:

How’s the arm I had to restore?”

 

Roy turned towards me in a bit of surprise, before looking down at his arm. Then it clicked, probably thanks to my worried expression.

 

“Works fine. I’m still trying to understand everything that it can do, but there is no pain, the response time is the same as my flesh and bone one. You did a good job.” He half smiled, before returning to his washing, humming something under his breath.

 

I returned to my wall watching, only sneaking a glance towards Matthew once – he was washing his hair humming the same thing that Roy was – and I felt the tune was oddly familiar…

 

And soon, without even realizing it, I had started singing softly.

 

_ “Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, woah _

_ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, woah” _

 

I smiled. I had finally managed to pinpoint the  [ song ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_u4L8kJy68) .

 

_ “Whenever I'm dressed cool, my parents put up a fight _

_ And if I'm a hot shot, mom will cut my hair at night.” _

 

Now I was full on singing, hand grabbing the loofah and starting to wash myself. Then, I heard Roy’s voice join me, the smile on his face clear even when I wasn’t looking.

 

“And in the morning, I'm short of my identity, I scream…”

 

Matthew joined in, his enthusiasm way too high for such a simple thing.

 

**“Mom and Dad, why can't I be who I wanna be?!”**

 

He was jumping up and down, soap bubbles covering a good part of his body, the bottle of shampoo being used as a microphone.

 

I smiled at the two, before Roy turned towards us and, with his bottle firmly in his hand, he belted out the next part of the song.

 

“I just wanna be myself, and I want you to love me for who I am!

I just wanna be myself, and I want you to know!

I am my hair!”

 

I grabbed my shampoo bottle and joined in fully.

 

_ “I've had enough, this is my prayer _

_ That I'll die living just as free as my hair! _

_ I've had enough, this is my prayer _

_ That I'll die living just as free as my hair!” _

 

Matthew took over, sliding on the wet floor in an improvised dance move that almost made him slip down on the ground.

 

**“I've had enough, I'm not a freak, I just keep fighting to stay cool on these streets...”**

 

Roy snorted a bit at his attempt, but followed suit, a bit more carefully.

 

“I've had enough, enough, enough. And this is my prayer, I swear...”

 

He pointed at me, while Matthew made his puppy dog eyes at me. I rolled my eyes and started to skate on the floor to join them in their impromptu dance.

 

_ “I'm as free as my hair _

_ I'm as free as my hair _

_ I am my hair _

_ I am my hair!” _

 

We were all smiling like complete idiots, but for the moment we couldn’t care less. We all belted out the next part together.

 

**_“Free as my hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair_ **

**_As free as my hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair.”_ **

 

Shampoo bottles discarded, we grabbed each other arms in a circle and started spinning slowly on the soapy floor, fueled by Matthew’s flight.

 

_ “Sometimes I want some raccoon or red highlights _

_ Just because I want my friends to think I'm dynamite!” _

 

My voice carried up in the air, before Roy joined, the laugh underlining his words.

 

“And on Friday, Rock City High School dance, I've got my bangs to hide that I don't stand a chance!”

 

Matthew took it from there, his deep voice making my chest vibrate from his power.

 

**“I just wanna be myself, and I want you to love me for who I am!**

**I just wanna be myself, and I want you to know!**

**I am my hair!!”**

 

After that, it was just a back and forth, our voices mixing and mingling together to create the whole wong.

 

_ “I've had enough, this is my prayer _

_ That I'll die living just as free as my hair _

_ I've had enough, this is my prayer _

_ That I'll die living just as free as my hair!” _

 

“I've had enough, I'm not a freak! I just keep fighting to stay cool on these streets, I've had enough, enough, enough!”

 

**“And this is my prayer, I swear!”**

 

_ “I'm as free as my hair _

_ I'm as free as my hair _

_ I am my hair _

_ I am my hair!” _

 

**_“Free as my hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair!_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair!_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair!_ **

**_As free as my hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair!_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair!_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair!_ **

**_Hair, hair, hair, hair!”_ **

 

By now, we were spinning in circle, the shower still running behind us, shampoo slowly oozing out from the bottles and foam was filling the place.

 

We couldn’t care less, to be honest.

 

“I just want to be free, I just want to be me! And I want lots of friends...”

 

**“...that invite me to their parties! Don't wanna change, and I don't wanna be ashamed!”**

 

_ “I'm the spirit of my hair _

_ It's all the glory that I bare!” _

 

**“I'm my hair,** _ I am my hair! _

I'm my hair, _I am my hair!_

**I am my hair** ,  _ I am my hair! _

_I am my hair!_ _(Glory that I bare)!_

**I'm my hair, I am my hair!**

It’s all the glory that I bare!

_ I'm my hair, I am my hair! _

**I'm my hair, yeah!** _(All the glory that I bare)!_

I'm my hair, yeah! _ (All the glory that I bare)! _

**I'm my hair, yeah!** _(All the glory that I bare)!_

I'm my hair, yeah! ”

 

We lost control of the spin when we hit a patch of soap, slipping and falling down the unforgiving tiled floor. Luckily, Matthew simply controlled our fall path and we landed on him, laughing making our eyes water with tears and we finished the song amidst the laughter.

 

_ “I've had enough, this is my prayer _

_ That I'll die living just as free as my hair! _

_ I've had enough, this is my prayer _

_ That I'll die living just as free as my hair!” _

 

We didn’t care that we were naked as the day we were born.

 

**“I've had enough, I'm not a freak! I just keep fighting to stay cool on these streets!”**

 

Or created.

 

“I've had enough, enough, enough! And this is my prayer, I swear!”

 

At this moment, we were just three friends all together, having fun and, finally, releasing all the stress that had kept mounting and mounting from the very first day.

 

**_“I'm as free as my hair!_ **

**_I'm as free as my hair!_ **

**_I am my hair!_ **

**_I am my hair!_ **

**_Ooh, my hair, my hair!”_ **

 

The only sound that was still present in the room was the sound of water falling from the showers, the rest of our laughter and our heavy breath.

 

We were all cuddled together, white foam surrounding us with white clouds of bubbles, steam wafting through the air.

 

“Man, I love you guys.”

 

Matthew’s voice caught us all by surprise, but I smiled right after him.

 

“No one would call me lame

When to you I answer: Same.”

 

A beat of silence, Roy looking at us with an uncertain expression, before snorting and starting to laugh.

 

“Oh, what the hell? Yeah, same, I guess. Even if you two are completely crazy.”

 

That was fair. I retaliated in a very mature manner: I took a handful of soap bubbles and threw them in his face.

 

Things devolved from there, really.

 

************************************************

 

**21st of July**

**Wednesday.**

**Mount Justice.**

**Mid-Morning.**

 

After a quick breakfast up in the Watchtower, the Zeta Beam brought all of us down inside Mount Justice, where the others were already waiting. The room where we found ourselves was filled with several more people than I thought would be there.

 

I could see the Team, obviously, but there was C!Roy near them, Martian Manhunter and Zatara – with Zatanna in tow – Batman, Captain Marvel, Superman, Green Arrow, Red Tornado and Black Canary.

 

Black Canary was the one that took a step forward and started explaining the situation.

 

“We are going to hold a series of fights. First one on one, then team against team. To keep things fair, you’ll have to choose three members to have the same numbers.”

 

The Team nodded at her, already near each other, focusing on me and the other two. The stares of the adults (and Billy+Zatanna) inside the room was pretty heavy and I could feel a single drop of cold sweat form at the base of my neck.

 

“The matches have already been decided. First will be Match versus Aqualad. Second will be Arsenal versus Miss Martian. And, finally it will be Rhyme versus-”

 

The Zeta Tube lit up in white, a tall, masculine figure stepping out of it.

 

Blood.

 

Everyone fell silent at his appearance, looking at him. He weathered the stares with remarkable indifference, just patting away some nonexistent dust from his shoulders and walking towards Zatara.

 

“Sorry for the delay, I had to find something.”

 

“I wasn’t aware you were interested in this.” Red Tornado asked, his voice exactly as mechanical as I expected it to be. It was a strange feeling, to suspect something and having it confirmed.

 

Not something I was used to, that’s for sure.

 

“Well, I have a sort-of son that is included in this, so I thought my appearance was needed. How’s it going, grampa?” He asked Zatara at the end, making him stiffen and making Zatanna giggle.

 

“Well. Thank you. Shall we go on?” His answer was extremely clipped and his face was already getting several shades of fury painted on his cheeks, so Black Canary hid her amusement behind a cough and kept going.

 

“As I was saying, the third fight will be Rhyme versus Kid Flash. If the first two fighters could come in the arena?”

 

Match floated inside the ring, messing up my hair and directing a smile to Conner. After that, he sent a cheeky wave to Superman, who looked like he had just bit a lemon.

 

“Nothing fatal. Three rounds, out of bounds is a fail. Being pinned for ten seconds is a fail. Ready?” Canary explained very briefly, arms raised in the air.

 

Then a voice started to whisper inside my mind. A voice I knew very well.


	24. Chapter 24: Test

<Hello lad. I have your things. I guess you want them back?> Blood’s voice echoed in my head, different from how I connected with the others, but clearly it was some sort of mind-speaking spell.

 

<Well, yes,> I answered him, a very faint nod of my head as a reflex to my assent.

 

<You don’t have to speak in rhyme in your mind? Well, that makes things easier, I admit. I have your things in my bag. Want me to bring them out now?>

 

I was pretty sure that he didn’t really know how to treat me, but he was trying and that meant a lot. But I kind of wanted to see the fights, so I hurried towards Blood – just giving a small nod and a movement of my head to indicate him to Roy, to avoid any questions – and I went to take my things.

 

“Go!” Black Canary called the start of the match and got out of the ring.

 

Aqualad started with a fast slash of his water whips towards Match, an attack that was mostly probing, I guessed, because Match avoided it without even looking.

 

The following exchange was more or less the same, with the Atlantean trying to hit him with the water and Match avoiding them with the smallest movement possible. Then, Matthew inhaled and froze the water that was coming down on his face, making it fall into fragments.

 

Everyone was, more or less, shocked at that, turning towards me and Roy. I had my broom in my hand and the time turner was already around my neck, so I simply shrugged. The redhead – the cloned redhead, not my redhead – snorted.

 

“Did you forget the part where he was a full clone of Superman?” His sardonic tone was enough to make everyone focus back on the fight that was now concluding.

 

Matthew had flashed forward, grabbed Aqualad by the arms and flipped over him, locking his arms in an overhead bend. After that, he had simply kicked his knees from the back and sent him sprawling on the ground, with all of his weight on him, squashing him to the ground.

 

“First round goes to Match! Return to your places!”

 

Canary’s voice echoed in the room and Match simply moved away, helping the dark-skinned teenage hero back to his feet with a smile. Then, the two returned in their positions.

 

The second fight went similarly to the first, only this time far faster.

 

Matthew decided to cut to the chase and sped up forward, stopping a hair’s breadth before Aqualad, and then spinning into a circle around him for a second or two. After that, he slammed against him while he was trying to use his water whips to grab him.

 

And they both ended on the ground against each other, with Match locking Kaldur’ahm’s arms behind his back and keeping him down. Judging by the way Kaldur’ahm had huffed, all of his weight was on him.

 

“Second round goes to Match! Do you want to continue on the third round?”

 

Aqualad had a calculating look on his face that made it clear that he wasn’t out of the running yet, nodding towards Black Canary. Matthew nodded as well, a happy smile on his face and a wink in my and Roy’s direction.

 

The third match started more or less like the first two, with the two teenagers circling each other, wary and studying the others. Then, Kaldur’ahm extended his hand and shouted something in what sounded like Greek and a sphere of water appeared around Matthew’s head.

 

After that, several more words were enough to create chains similarly made of water, tethering the Kryptonian to his position, no matter how much he tried to escape.

 

Right, he was a student at the Conservatory of Sorcery, no matter that I had never seen him use his spells in the show. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t able to.

 

Probably he simply wasn’t really practiced with them and anything more than simple water shaping – which was what he was doing with the water chains – either took too much out of him or took too much time?

 

Still, Match wasn’t really out of the fight: he glared at Aqualad for a moment, before the dark skinned teen had to jerk to the side to avoid two eye lasers.

 

Sadly, the two eye beams made the water around his head boil instantly, turning it into steam. Not that it actually hurt Matthew, but it was enough to distract him, so that Kaldur’ahm could drastically shorten the length of the chains and send him on the ground, thanks to the surprise.

 

Soon, he was face down against the ground and Aqualad was panting while Black Canary was calling him the victor.

 

End result was still two to one for us, though, so I was pretty satisfied. And Matthew was smiling, so everything was good.

 

“Well, two to one for Match. Now it’s time for Arsenal and Miss Martian. If those two could take their positions?” Black Canary’s voice was enough to bring everyone back to what we were doing and the green-skinned – even if she was really white-skinned in disguise – Martian floated inside the ring, before Arsenal turned towards me and Matthew.

 

Matthew smiled at him and slapped him on the back, making him stumble for a moment from the strength of the hit. He glared at him, before looking at me.

 

He nodded towards Miss Martian, before tapping on his temples with his cybernetic arm twice. And, finally, under the arched eyebrow of Black Canary, he finally entered the ring.

 

While she was repeating the rules, I put my broom down – it remained mid-air, of course – and sat on it side-saddle, like a stereotypical witch.

 

That earned me a laugh from Blood and a curious look from Zatanna, but I simply smiled cheerfully at them and rose in the air to get a better vantage point from where to see the fighters. They were just starting the fight and I managed to get in a good position.

 

I was soon joined by Matthew, but that wasn’t important. I had a job to do, after all.

 

The two started fighting far faster than Match and Aqualad, with Miss Martian starting with her telekinesis and trying to push Roy out of bonds. She managed to send him to the ground, but he grabbed the ring with his right arm, while his left snuck down to a pouch on his leg.

 

And then a bomb was sailing towards Miss Martian, making her eyes widen in surprise and stop to blast it away. Bad move, it turned out, as it exploded into a thick mass of smoke that soon enveloped the entire ring.

 

Not that it lasted all that long, because telekinesis, but it was enough to let Roy vanish from her sight. He had moved low to the ground, where the remnants of smoke were still lingering, nocking an arrow and aiming towards her back.

 

She jolted out of the way at the last possible moment, before turning towards him with unerring accuracy. Looking around, it was clear that she couldn’t have been able to see him that fast.  _ Robin _ , on the other hand….

 

I mean, the rules didn’t say that we couldn’t help each other. So, it was a nice workaround for them to use their mental connections to feed her information.

 

Too bad that I had spotted it.

 

_ “I’m thinking a wicked thought _

_ Their mental link just got caught. _

_ Substitute what she gets from them _

_ With pics from my mind stem.” _

 

The spell took hold with a gentle and subtle purple glow around my head, before I felt their link. It was difficult to explain because it didn’t really have any words to describe it.

 

I guess… I could say that it was like several strands of… energy that came and went from her head. It was a lacking explanation, but it was what I could use.

 

So, I simply put myself between her and them, leading all the strands towards me. And then…

 

I blasted my memory of a naked and dripping Match under the shower at her.

 

The result was instant: she fell on the ground, her face redder than a tomato and Roy was on her a moment later, using some sort of zip-tie to block her hands and push her on the ground.

 

“Winner: Arsen...”

 

“Wait!”

 

Superman’s voice interrupted Black Canary, making everyone turn towards him.

 

“I think that they have cheated. I heard Rhyme saying something and then Miss Martian stopped cold.” His seriousness was… annoying and admirable at the same time. And, with him being Superman, everyone turned towards me and Match. Mostly with an accusing stare in their eyes.

 

I shrugged my shoulders.

 

“Cheat is a strong word to use

Especially with rules so loose.

But, to be fair and tell the truth

I only acted after that youth. ”

 

I pointed at Robin, so that everyone turned towards him, this time. He was, of course, the complete picture of innocence.

 

“I have  _ no idea _ what he’s talking about.” And he managed to lie to everyone with such a straight face, too. On the other hand, Batman’s student, so.

 

Matthew scoffed at that, attracting their attention on our positions once again. I was starting to feel like I was one half of a tennis match.

 

“Miss Martian had linked you and the others with a mind link and you were telling her where to look. There is no way she could have seen me otherwise,” Roy’s voice rang out from his position, making Miss Martian redden once again. And just when she had managed to regain control of her face, too.

 

“Also, you are literally talking about loophole abuse and rules-lawyering to a half-demon. What, exactly, were you expecting?” Matthew’s voice attracted their attention once again and Blood exploded into laughter, making Superman glare at him.

 

“Well, they aren’t exactly wrong, you know...” Zatara was the one that settled the whole argument,with a disgruntled Superman settling down and Black Canary nodding in understanding.

 

“Very well, new rule. No one is allowed to help or hinder the two fighters. Basically, no cheating. Is that understood?” Her voice brooked no arguments and I simply nodded, happy with the results.

 

Now, to see what Roy could come up to win.

 

“First round goes to Arsenal! Second round, get in position.” After the two were again in front of each other, she nodded and moved out of the ring.

 

“Start!”

 

Roy, this time, dived to the side and avoided the telekinetic blast by a finger’s breadth, already nocking and shooting an arrow at her. The tip of the arrow blipped twice, before exploding into a brilliant flash of light that blinded everyone around.

 

Well, everyone that wasn’t a Kryptonian or had some sort of light-adjusting mask. Or was a machine.

 

I was still blinking spots out of my vision, only barely managing to follow what was happening by the sound, but I could hear a lot of muttered curses, the sound of flesh impacting flesh and then struggle.

 

When I managed to recover my sight, I saw that Miss Martian had managed to pin Roy down, morphing herself with several longer and stronger arms, binding him and stopping him.

 

“Second round goes to Miss Martian! Get ready for the third round.” With Black Canary calling the fight, she let him go and floated back, looking at him a bit unsure. Roy, for his part, had a neutral expression on his face, rubbing a mark on his arm and moving back.

 

“Ready? Go!”

 

This time, Arsenal raised his right arm towards the Martian and his left flew over the mirror-like surface, several dials and switches appearing, concluding with his hand on the wrist, hand with the palm open and aimed towards Miss Martian, who was clearly confused.

 

Then a single beam of light shot from the center of the hand and hit her, slamming her against the wall.

 

Silence fell on everyone.

 

“...Arsenal wins.”

 

M’gann wasn’t really hurt, just a bit disoriented, and she still congratulated Roy on his fight. She was way too gentle for this.

 

“Will the next fighters get in the ring?” Welp, that was my turn.

 

I floated down and sent the broom leaning against the wall with a flick of my fingers, before walking towards the center of the ring, looking at a wary-looking Kid Flash in front of me.

 

“Ready?” He nodded. I nodded.

 

“Go!”

 

I took a breath and started speaking, before finding myself on the ground, face against the floor and a hand on my mouth.

 

Kid Flash. I already knew that this would happen. Honestly, it was clear from the start that this would be what would happen. They had organized the fights to put each of us against the one who would give us the most problems.

 

For me, that was Kid Flash.

 

“...that’s it?” he asked, looking at me and then at Black Canary, who simply nodded and made us return to our positions.

 

I had to think for a second, there was a way for me to, at least, put up some sort of fight. I just needed to find it. And, maybe, I even knew how.

 

“Start!” The signal was given once again. This time, I didn’t speak, I just commanded my diamond orb to move.

 

It flew straight towards Kid Flash, who avoided it, leaving a streak of colors behind. I tried, without success, to hit him, but I found myself a step behind each time.

 

He even started mocking me part way through, making funny faces and saying things like I had won earlier only because I had caught him by surprise.

 

Honestly, in other situations I would have let it go, but this time there was something that simply… it was like he was pressing all my buttons at once.

 

I took a breath to finally shut him up, when I found myself on the ground once again, diamond ball trapped beneath me and Kid Flash near my side, holding my wrists and ankles together. Oh, and he had managed to gag me with a handkerchief.

 

I glared at him, while Black Canary called the second fight.

 

“Do you want to continue to the third fight or do you prefer to conclude here?” she asked, eyeing me a bit worried. I nodded, while spitting out the gag, while he shrugged.

 

“Meh, sure. Apparently, his hocus pocus wasn’t all that. Smoke and mirrors.”

 

…

 

Ok, that’s it.

 

I could feel the hair at the back of my neck raising in fury, my face a mask of calmness. Hocus pocus, huh? Nothing much, HUH? Smoke and MIRRORS, HUH?!

 

Well, then. Let’s see how much he liked some real Hocus Pocus.

 

“Ready? Go!”

 

Before she had even concluded her word, I had my orb circling around me in the fastest spin I could manage. It looked like a single, uninterrupted hoop around me and that was enough to stop Kid Flash in his tracks for a moment, trying to puzzle out how to bring me out of it.

 

I didn’t give him that moment.

 

_ “Lightning bolt, _

_ stop this dolt!” _

 

From the fingertips of my left hand, purple streaks of lightning shot and hit Kid Flash in the chest, sending him to the ground, lightly smoking and completely still. He would recover in a minute or so, though.

 

Good enough for me.

 

Hocus Pocus, huh?! I pointed my hand at him, purple sparks of magic dancing around it. Let’s see if he enjoyed some  _ real _ Hocus Pocus!

 

_ “Twist the bones and bend his back.” _

 

My voice echoed in the air like a funeral bell.

 

_ “Trim him of his baby fat.” _

 

The spell coming from the depth of my memory, something I saw years ago.

 

_ “Give him fur black as black.” _

 

And I used it against him.

 

_ “Just turn him into a cat!” _

 

I pointed my hand towards him and, with a flash of purple light, Kid Flash wasn’t there anymore. In his place, a black cat with ginger fur around his eyes and chest, like his goggles and symbol.

 

I looked at him for a moment, in the complete silence of the room, before what I did caught up with me. I didn’t even look around, I just raised my hand and the shaft of my broom slapped against it a moment later.

 

Then, I was flying away, my thoughts a mess and near panic for no reason I could understand. I simply…

 

I didn’t know what to do.

 

*************************************

 

I didn’t even went all that far away, just in Happy Harbor – after stashing my broom in the nearby woods – and hid in an ice cream parlor.

 

Currently, I was trying to drown my feelings in an ice cream sundae that was bigger than my head, with everything on it.

 

The only thing that I was managing to do was getting a very egregious stomach ache, but it was more or less the same for me. Eating your feelings, drowning your feelings….

 

No difference, really.

 

When someone sat down at my table, I didn’t even raise my head, just took an aggressive bite of one of the chocolate portions of the ice cream – there were three different chocolate flavors: dark, classic and white – and shoved it in my mouth.

 

“Well, you seem to know what you did wrong, at least.”

 

Blood. Of course. Well, I didn’t expect Batman or Superman, that was for sure. I stopped in my attempt of getting my head frozen solid and looked at him, warily. Then, I nodded, slowly.

 

“Getting provoked, it’s something that is inevitable. And your age, even if it’s not your mental one, works against you. Hormones and short temper are something that preteens are known for, after all,” he pointed out, casually, before getting up and moving towards the counter.

 

He returned after a moment with his own ice cream, something red and white and cream brown.

 

I pointed at it with my spoon, curious. He looked at me and then at the ice cream for a moment, before getting what I was asking him.

 

“Oh, what flavor did I get? Raspberry, hazelnut, and vanilla.”

 

Interesting combination. I dug out another spoonful of my own dessert and ate, angrily.

 

Like the sulking preteen I was. Useless to try and ignore the facts, after what I did. There are some things that are okay to do and some that aren’t. Turning one of your future teammates into a cat was firmly in the not acceptable part of the equation.

 

“You can finish your sugar bomb, but you’ll have to come back, eventually. Drowning your mistakes in ice cream is better than drowning them in, say, whiskey, but it’s still not healthy,” he said, elegantly eating his own food.

 

True.

 

“Still, I have to commend you on the strength of your magic. Even Zatara is having problems returning Kid Flash to his human shape, so it seems you will need to be the one to undo what you did.”

 

Well, that was surprising enough to make me raise my eyes and look him in the eyes.

 

Zatara was having problems?

 

My incredulity was probably pretty clear on my face, since Blood chuckled and nodded.

 

“I understand your surprise, but you need to remember that Zatara is a pretty powerful magician by himself and his daughter will probably be as powerful – or more – than him. Plus, you need to consider that Etrigan is the brother of Merlin. You have a lot of magic, you just need to learn how to use it effectively.”

 

Oh. Well, when he put things like that…

 

“Finish your ice cream and then we’ll return to Mount Justice. You didn’t kill anyone, after all.”

 

I sighed and dug back into my dessert. Maybe after I finished it, I would feel a bit better.


End file.
